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THE LETTERS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT
VOLUME I
The Years of Preparation
1868 — 1898
THE LETTERS OF
Theodore Roosevelt
SELECTED AND EDITED BY
ELTING E. MORISON
JOHN M. BLUM JOHN J. BUCKLEY
Associate Editor Copy Editor
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
1951
Copyright, 1951, by the President and Fellow
0f Harvard College and Printed in the
United States of America
They solemnly believed that if there were only enough of
them, and that if they only collected enough facts of all kinds
and sorts, there would cease to be any need hereafter for great
writers, great thinkers. . . . They represent what is in itself
the excellent revolt against superficiality and kck of research,
but they have grown into the opposite and equally noxious
belief that research is all in all, that accumulation of facts is
everything, and that the ideal history of the future will consist
not even of the work of one huge pedant but of a multitude
of articles by a multitude of small pedants.
Theodore Roosevelt to George Macaulay Trevelyan,
2$ January 1904
Moreover, the most painstaking and laborious research, cover-
ing long periods of years, is necessary in order to accumulate
the material for any history worth writing at all* ... My
claim is merely that such work should not exclude the work
of the great master who can use the materials gathered, who
has the gift of vision. ... the power himself to see what has
happened and to make what he has seen clear to the vision of
others.
Theodore Roosevelt to the American Historical Association,
27 "December 1912
To those historians 'who try, from the facts of all sorts
and kinds collected here, to construct ideas of their own that
will have meaning for their own times; who seek as they write
to make these ideas clear to the vision of others.
Preface
venture of this kind is impossible to sustain without the active
and continued support of outside agencies and individuals. The initiating
agency was the Roosevelt Memorial Association, which, through its Secre-
tary, Hermann Hagedorn, appointed an editor in 1946 and made possible the
development of an editorial group by its grant of $100,000 in 1948. The
moving spirits in the Association have been Major General Frank R. McCoy,
now President; William M. Chadbourne, Treasurer; and Hermann Hagedorn,
Secretary and Director. A special debt of gratitude is owed to Hermann
Hagedorn for the enthusiasm he has always revealed for the project and to
General McCoy for the decisive action he took in our behalf on several
critical occasions. To all members of the Association and particularly the
three men mentioned, respect and thanks are due for the complete freedom
of action and judgment that has been extended to the editorial group.
The project, dependent in the first instance upon the Roosevelt Memorial
Association, could not have gone forward without the good offices of the
Roosevelt family. Mrs. Richard Derby, Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, Archibald
Roosevelt, and Nicholas Roosevelt not only lent their general support to the
enterprise, but they have contributed, in the form of letters and reminis-
cences, to the development of the work.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has placed at our disposal
the necessary space, office equipment, and mechanical research aids. In
addition to providing this indispensable material assistance, the Institute has
reduced the teaching loads of those faculty members engaged in the venture,
thus setting them free for editorial work. For the unquestioning support at
all times given this group from the beginning by James R. Killian, Jr., Presi-
dent; Julius A. Stratton, Provost; and John E. Burchard, Dean of the Human-
ities sufficient thanks cannot be given. Without their thoughtful generosity
this work could not possibly have been undertaken or long continued.
The Harvard University Press, by agreeing in 1948 to underwrite the
production costs, made possible the publication of these letters. The Director
of the Press, Thomas J. Wilson, has, at all times, acted with a decisiveness
and understanding that has greatly simplified the task. Miss Eleanor Dobson,
the head of the editorial department, has contributed her time and wisdom
vii
ungrudgingly to the solution of countless editorial problems. To her experi-
enced judgment and painstaking review these volumes owe a great deal.
Such a work as this is naturally dependent upon the good will and active
contribution of b'braries and historical societies, public and private. For the
unfailing support of four librarians, Vernon D. Tate, Director of Libraries,
and Robert E. Booth, Associate Librarian, of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology; and Keyes D. Metcalf, Director of the Harvard University
Library, and Robert H. Haynes, Assistant Librarian of the Harvard College
Library, we will always be grateful. They placed at our disposal, unhesitat-
ingly, the facilities of their institutions and greatly simplified our work by
enabling us to build up on a liberal loan basis a working library of our own.
The Library of Congress, repository of the principal Roosevelt Collection,
has inevitably borne the brunt of our demands. To these demands — many
small and, I am sure, irritating — the staff has always responded with grace
and efficiency. Special mention should be made of Solon J. Buck, St. George
L. Sioussat, Chiefs of the Manuscripts Division; and Leslie \V. Dunlap,
C. Percy Powell, Arthur E. Young, and Katharine E. Brand of the Manu-
scripts Division; and Donald C. Holmes of the Photoduplication Sen-ice.
To these officials of other libraries and societies we are likewise grateful
for courteous and useful services rendered: James T. Babb, Librarian, Yale
University Library; David W. Bailey, Secretary to the Corporation, Harvard
University; F. Clever Bald, Michigan Historical Collection, University of
Michigan; Charles Batey, Printer to the University, Oxford, England; Roland
Baugham, Head of Special Collections, Columbia University; James Brewster,
State Librarian, Connecticut State Library; Claude R. Cook, Curator,
State Department of History and Archives, DCS Moines, Iowa; W. Xeil
Franklin, National Archives; Henry M. Fuller, Reference Librarian, Yale
University Library; Miss Bess Glenn, National Archives; Philip M. Hamcr,
Director of Records Control, National Archives; Carl L. Lokkc, Archivist,
Foreign Affairs Section, National Archives; Miss Mar)* MacKenzie, Registrar
of the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle; Mrs. Zara Jones Powers, Librarian
of Historical Manuscripts, Yale University Library; Milton Halsey Thomas,
Curator of Columbiana, Columbia University.
Permission obtained from the following publishers to quote from the
indicated books is most gratefully acknowledged: Appleton-Ccntury-Crofts,
Inc., New York, for Joseph Benson Foraker, Notes of a Busy Lij\\ 1916, and
Francis Ellington Leupp, The Man Roosevelt, 1904; Dodd, Mead, and Co.,
New York, for Tyler Dennett, John Hay, 1933, and Holden Evans, One
Man's Fight for a Better Navy, 1940, and Philip Jessup, Etihu Root, 1938;
Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York, for Joseph Lincoln Steffens, The
Aittobiography of Joseph Lincoln Steffens, 1931; Henry Holt Co., New
York, for De Alva Stanwood Alexander, Four Ftiwous New Yorkers, 1923;
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, for M. A. De Wolfe Howe, John Jay Chap-
man and His Letters, 1937, an(* Samuel W. McCall, The Life of Thomas
viii
Erackett Reed, 1914; Alfred A. Knopf, New York, for Thomas Beer, Hanna,
1929; Little, Brown and Co., and the Atlantic Monthly Press, Boston, for
John Davis Long, America of Yesterday as Reflected in the Journal of John
Davis Long, 1923, and Dexter Perkins, Hands Off, 1942; The Macmillan Co.,
New York, for William Allen White, The Autobiography of William Allen
White, 1946; The Saalfield Publishing Co., Akron, Ohio, for Murat Halstead,
Life of Theodore Roosevelt, 1902; Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, for
the Dictionary of American Biography, and The Works of Theodore
Roosevelt, National Edition; The Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madi-
son, Wisconsin, for Reuben Gold Thwaites, Lyman Copeland Draper, a
Memoir, 1892.
These acknowledgments, assurances of debts unpayable, affirmations of
gratitude, are a pleasant part of the ritual of putting a book together.
Through the years in stet, however, the offerings of thanks have lost their
original impact and even their meaning. In such a pass, one must fall back
on the method of Ahasuerus — admit that, though the expression is inade-
quate, there is still a personal delight in trying to honor those who have
contributed so much. Whether the work has been well or badly done is
one thing; without the agencies and individuals cited here, who acted in our
behalf on the unsupported belief that it would be well done, it could never
have been done at all.
There are, finally, certain men who have had no direct concern in this
enterprise, whose time and counsel could be claimed only on grounds of
mutual interest or friendship. To Frederick Merk the editor owes not only
his present position, but also, along with many others who studied under
Mr. Merk, his choice of profession. From Julian Boyd and Allan Nevins
there was obtained valuable advice on the organization and development of
the editorial group, and also support, literally invaluable, in obtaining the
decision to create the group. Others have rendered less definable assistance
of various kinds — in gaining access to certain letter collections, advice on
particular points, general professional counsel, or personal support in time of
doubt. Among these have been: Duncan S. Ballantine, Howard R. Bartlett,
Howard K. Beale, Kingman Brewster, Paul Brooks, McGeorge Bundy, Dale
A. Chadwick, Alfred D. Chandler, Mrs. Winthrop Chanler, Joseph Charles,
G. Wallace Chessman, Mrs. W. B. Flandrau, Guy Stanton Ford, David
Goodrich, Mrs. Harry O. King, Richard W. Leopold, Mrs. Ben B. Lindsey,
Louis Lyons, William Miller, Dwight C. Miner, Richard C. Overton, David
E. Owen, Mrs. James Russell Parsons, Mrs. Charlotte W. Provost, Murray
Quigg, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., William B. Shannon, William S. Sims,
Miss Edith Stedman, Daniel Weary, Mrs. Caroline Morton Williams.
IT
contents
VOLUME ONE
Introduction xv
New York and Cambridge 1
1868-1881
New York and Medora 53
1881-1889
The Civil Service Commission 159
1889-1895
The Police Commission of the City of New York 453
1895-1897
The Department of the Navy 597
1897-1898
VOLUME TWO
The Department of the Navy, continued 801
1898
The War with Spain 827
1898
A State Campaign 867
August-December 1898
Parochial Affairs 897
January— December 1899
xi
The Kaleidoscope 1125
January-June 1900
A National Campaign 1335
June-December 1900
APPENDIX
I Diary of Five Months in the New York Legislature 1469
II Note on Nomination for the Governorship 1474
III Men of Affairs 1479
IV Theodore Roosevelt: The Years of Decision 1484
V Chronologies 1495
V I Collections Investigated 1511
INDEX 1515
Illustrations and Charts
(Unless another source is indicated, the illustrations are from the
Theodore Roosevelt Collection in the Harvard College Library.)
VOLUME I
Chart i. The Roosevelt Family. 16
Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., 1862. Photograph by Rintoul and Rockwood. 32
Martha Bulloch Roosevelt. 32
Roosevelt's Birthplace, Number 28 East 20th Street, about 1860.
Drawing by Carle Michel. Copyright, 1920, by Henry Collins
Brown. 33
Theodore Roosevelt at Eighteen Months. Courtesy Charles Scribner's
Sons. 33
Roosevelt, Age Seven. Photograph by Rockwood. Courtesy Charles
Scribner's Sons. 33
Edith Carow, Theodore, Corinne, and Elliott Roosevelt, about 1875. 64
Alice Lee, Corinne, and Anna Roosevelt. 64
Roosevelt the Undergraduate, 1875. Courtesy Charles Scribner's Sons. 65
A Vacation in Maine, 1879. 65
Chart 2. The Civil Service Commission. 320
Chart 3. The New York City Police Department. 480
The Porcellian dub. 608
In the Bad Lands. Photograph by James Suydom, 1884. 609
Roosevelt and the Three Thieves, 1884. 640
The Police Commission. Copied from Platfs album. 640
The Night Watch. Cartoon by Hess illustrating the vigilance of the
police commissioner. 641
Chart 4. The Navy Department. 672
xiii
VOLUME II
The Family, 1890. 832
Assistant Secretary of the Navy. 83 s
The Rough Rider, 1898. Photograph by Elmendorfi. 864
Roosevelt and Leonard Wood at San Antonio, 1898. Photograph by
Barr. 864
One of "Teddy's" Roundups. Cartoon by Thomas Nast. 865
The Ringmaster. Cartoon by Davenport. 1408
Thomas Collier Platt. Photograph by Ritzmann. 1409
Lemuel Ely Quigg. I4o9
Jacob A. Riis. Courtesy of Charles Scribner's Sons. 1409
Carl Schurz. ^09
"What Name, Please?" Cartoon by Bush. 1440
Republican Convention, 1900. International Newsreel photograph
(Rau). I44I
McKinley and Roosevelt, 1900. Photograph by Pach Bros. 1441
Chart 5. The New York State Executive Department. 1456
xiv
Introduction
JL his introduction was originally planned as an essay on the art of
editing. A kind friend who got word of the project remarked, "You will
only have trouble. You cannot define the nature of something which does
not exist. What you actually did was to get six people to do the work;
what they actually have done will be clear enough to anyone who spends a
little time with the volumes."
This was a sage observation. There is, sadly, no tenth muse presiding
over the editorial process. The work, as Wordsworth said in another con-
nection, is carried forward by a few strong instincts and a few plain rules.
The strong instincts need not be examined in this place, but some explanation
of the plain rules may properly be forthcoming.
The intent behind the venture is to make easily accessible all the avail-
able letters of Theodore Roosevelt that seem necessary to reveal, insofar as
letters can, his thought and action in all the major and many of the minor
undertakings of his public and private life. The letters have been selected
with this intent in mind and without regard to the question of previous
publication; they have been arranged in chronological order; and they have
been printed in their entirety.
The primary source of material has been the Theodore Roosevelt Collec-
tion in the Library of Congress. Although the full extent of this collection
has never been precisely determined, it probably contains about 100,000
pieces written by Roosevelt. He himself once told his friend Bishop that he
wrote 150,000 letters during the Presidential years alone, but this is clearly
a not-unexpected hyperbole. Perhaps ninety per cent of the Library collec-
tion is in the form of letter-press or carbon copies of dictated letters. The
great bulk of this material lies in the years between 1889 when Roosevelt be-
came Civil Service Commissioner and his death in 1919. Most of these letters
are concerned with the affairs of the author's political life, but there are also
an impressive number dealing with personal matters. A microfilm record of
the entire collection of outgoing mail, with the exception of a handful of
insignificant routine letters, is now in the Harvard College Library.
This primary source has been supplemented by material drawn from
129 collections in this country and abroad. A list of these appears in the
xv
appendix in the second volume. In searching for further material the attempt
was made to gain access primarily to the correspondence of those men and
women who held continuing and significant places in Roosevelt's public or
private life.
In these supplementary sources about four thousand Roosevelt letters
were discovered. Many of these, especially those written to members of his
family in early youth, are in longhand; but far more are the typed originals
of carbon or letter-press copies now in the Roosevelt Collection. These
originals reveal that, virtually without exception, there is no difference
between the copy retained by the author and the dispatched original. This
fact has enabled us to rely with confidence, where we have failed to discover
original letters, on the copies found in the Roosevelt Collection. They are
printed here, when cited to the Roosevelt Manuscripts, as copies, but with
little doubt that in virtually every instance they reflect faithfully both the
spirit and the exact phraseology of the original. All letters existing as originals
in other letter collections and as copies in the Roosevelt Collection are, for
purposes of convenience, cited to the Roosevelt Manuscripts. Only when
no copy of a letter can be found in the Roosevelt Collection is it cited to the
collection in which the original lies.
In spite of this examination of a large number of letter collections, there
can be no pretense that the letters now in hand are all the letters Roosevelt
wrote. To begin with, three significant collections were closed to us — those
of Leonard Wood, Henry Cabot Lodge, and George B. Cortelyou. Of the
three, the loss of the Lodge papers is obviously the most serious. Much of
the loss for the historian is, however, made good by the existence of the two
volumes of Roosevelt-Lodge correspondence published in 1921. Though
modifications in the original were made in the published text, these modifica-
tions for the years covered by these first two volumes are relatively unimpor-
tant; the letters from 1884 to 1901 represented here can be taken as a substan-
tially complete record of the existing correspondence in the Lodge collection.
Whether this situation obtains for the later years is not so clear, but is again,
fortunately for present purposes, relatively unimportant, since after 1901
copies of typewritten letters to Lodge are in the Roosevelt Collection. The
failure to gain access to the Wood and Cortelyou collections is likewise
offset by die fact that letters to both men appear in large number in the
Roosevelt Collection.
Even with the exception of these three collections, however, no claim to
investigation of all possible sources of Roosevelt's letters can be made. To
begin with, some few have been withheld by friends or family because of
the exclusively personal character of the communications. There are also,
without question, letters in several public deposits that were not investigated
because it appeared certain the yield would be small in return for the levies
of time and expense. Finally there are throughout the country — in autograph
xvi
books, under dealers1 counters, and in old trunks far back beneath the eaves
— countless letters written by Theodore Roosevelt.
But while there can be no claim that all the letters have been collected, it
is possible to say that there are at our disposal enough for our purposes. As
previously stated, investigations in other collections have revealed that letters
dealing with official business ordinarily are preserved in copy form in the
Roosevelt Collection. Family and friends have generously made available suf-
ficient material to illuminate every appropriate area of Theodore Roosevelt's
personal life. The samples contributed by thoughtful friends or acquaintances
from autograph books or attic trunks have suggested that any failure to
examine these sources exhaustively will not cause irreparable damage to the
finished product. If performance has equalled intention, letters appearing in
the future may well add further details; they may serve as a basis for minor
amplifications in design; but they should not introduce any major dislocation
in the central structure of the life of Theodore Roosevelt as described in his
letters published here.
With some measure of confidence then, it may be stated that there are
enough letters; with far greater assurance, it can be claimed that there are far
too many to present in published form. Of the estimated 100,000 that are
available, only about ten thousand will appear in the following volumes.
The question is naturally raised, in view of these figures, whether by such
radical reduction all but a suggestive outline of Roosevelt's personality and
career will be shaved away. In partial answer it may be said that the number
of selected letters was not arbitrarily limited by considerations of either
time or finance. All those letters that appeared necessary to fulfill the
announced editorial intent were chosen and are here reproduced. In view
of these claims of adequacy, some description of our criteria for selection
may properly be forthcoming.
There has been first an effort to eliminate, save in illuminating instances,
the trivial circumstances that accumulate in every private life and clog the
channels of all official correspondence. The routine regrets of invitations,
acknowledgments of gifts, purely formal notes of official condolence — all
these and others like them have been eliminated. In addition most duplication
has been cut away. Any correspondence includes repetitive material, and in
the Roosevelt Collection there is a thick layer of such overburden. Letters
similar in spirit or in general content to different people are reduced ordi-
narily to suggestive examples. Where there is significance in the fact of
duplication or in the names of the addressees it is noticed in the footnotes.
Roosevelt, for instance, in the early months of 1900 communicated by letter
to friends and admirers throughout the country his settled refusal to consider
the Vice-Presidential nomination. The relatively few letters of this nature
that have been selected seem sufficient to define quite clearly his attitude be-
fore the convention met. There is a further, less obvious, repetition in the
XVII
correspondence. As Civil Service Commissioner, for example, Roosevelt had
to resist political influence in the administration of a good many post offices;
as Governor of New York he had to appoint a large number of state officials.
In such instances of repeating situation, only cases of special importance
together with certain representative examples have been selected for publica-
tion. To reveal, through the correspondence, the design of a recurring prob-
lem, the character of the pressures brought to bear on Roosevelt, and
the nature of his responses is assumed to be sufficient.
Once the region of trivia and duplication has been left behind, the
problem of choice is more difficult. From, to give approximate figures, the
50 letters on travel and social life, the 75 on natural history, the 75 on arts
and letters, the 150 on the national political issues which Roosevelt com-
posed between 1880 and 1900, what must necessarily be taken and what may
safely be rejected? In the realm of natural history, for example, Roosevelt's
interest was great and continuing; his contribution, through the years, not
inconsiderable. Yet Roosevelt, though highly skilled, never achieved a
position of professional pre-eminence in natural history, and Roosevelt the
naturalist must remain of incidental concern to the generality of historians.
His letters, therefore, need only reveal that his interest was great and con-
tinuing; that he corresponded with such leaders as Muir, Grinnell, Osborn,
Merriam, Burroughs; and that he understood and contributed to a further
understanding of this field of secondary concern. Eight or ten letters appear
to suffice for this purpose. One significant episode there was in Roosevelt's
life as a naturalist — his attack in 1907 on the nature fakers. In such a case it
seems not only appropriate but necessary to include virtually the entire
correspondence bearing on a subject which gained national attention and
involved the President in a controversy with political as well as professional
implications.
Similar bases for judgment have been employed in the selection of letters
dealing with the other secondary and tertiary pursuits of this extraordinary
personality — Roosevelt the historian, the rancher, the hunter, the man of
letters, the explorer.
In the realm of politics, other considerations have governed. For all the
specific significant events — like the Anthracite Strike — and for all the
suggestive minor episodes — like the disposition of the Church lands in
the Philippines — all letters not absolutely repetitive are included. With
issues that continue — like the tariff, the character of state political organiza-
tions, or those more arid reaches of American history, the Indians or the
fencing of Western lands — letters indicating development or shift in general
policy have been taken; but, save in unusual circumstances, letters that simply
reiterate previously prepared positions are ordinarily avoided. The applica-
tion of policy is demonstrated by letters dealing with specific case histories
that have been chosen either as representative of many, as in the administra-
xviii
tion of the Five Civilized Tribes, or as possessing unusual intrinsic interest,
as in the case of the Warren Livestock Company.
These are the few plain rules that have been laid down for the selection
and rejection of letters. They represent a judgment of what historians
would like to find and could most usefully find in these volumes. Within
this general intellectual framework, selection may be determined, in any
given instance, by personal feeling, taste, special interest, or amusement.
Attempt has been made to reduce the number of aberrations caused by the
undue influence of any of these factors by submitting letters to the critical
review of at least three and sometimes, in special instances, four or five
minds.
The letters thus selected have been reproduced in accordance with the
following procedures. Handwritten letters designated as such by the symbol
"°" attached to the cited manuscript collection, are printed as written with-
out further indication of Roosevelt's frequent and startling departures from
the norm of accepted usage in spelling. No doubt this will strike the readers,
as it has from time to time struck the editors, as a piece of unnecessarily
solemn scholarship. But it seemed simpler, and safer on the whole, to leave
Roosevelt's own text untouched rather than to interfere from time to time
to correct or alter words or phrases to conform to what must be, in some
cases, assumed meanings. Also these letters may serve as interesting docu-
ments on causation, since they were written by the President to whom the
mission of simplified spelling commended itself. The manuscript collection of
the Roosevelt Memorial Association consists primarily of typed or photostatic
copies of originals. They are printed here exactly as they exist in copy
form. Letters from the Roosevelt Memorial Association Collection cited as
handwritten are actually photostats. Letters reprinted from books, news-
papers, or periodicals are printed, in spite of occasional quite obvious or
disconcerting printers' errors, precisely as published. But only if no original
copy of a letter is available is the published source used, since changes in
text have frequently been made by previous editors. For example, letters
to Corinne Roosevelt Robinson have been taken not from her book, but
from the Robinson Collection.
In letters dictated by Roosevelt and typed by stenographers changes in
spelling and italicization have been made. There seemed to be no compelling
reason to perpetuate for posterity the mistakes of unskilled or inattentive
typists. For spelling, Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has been made the
source of information. Ordinarily, matters of style — punctuation and capi-
talization, for instance — remain unaltered in spite of the fluctuating habits
of changing typists. Such variations do not unduly impede the reader, and
they provide an unevenness of surface, attractive perhaps, in a work of eight
volumes. Parenthetically, here it may be said that the punctuation, capi-
talization, and form of citation in the footnotes have at our request been
xix
made to conform to the house rules of the Harvard University Press. Miss
Eleanor Dobson of the Press has done this exacting job herself.
Frequently, in typed letters, Roosevelt interpolated handwritten com-
ments, occasionally with calculation, as he once explained, to suggest his
personal interest in a correspondent but more often to alter, upon reflection,
his impulsively dictated first thoughts. Ordinarily these brief handwritten
additions are not identified as such, but when they indicate a real change of
attitude or moderation of spirit, both versions (the original set off in single
angle brackets) are included.
Some words or phrases have been irrecoverably obliterated in the letters;
these have been indicated respectively by three and four dots. Some words
or phrases remaining in fragmentary form permit an editorial guess; these
have been indicated by French quotation marks. A key to these and other
symbols used in reproducing the letters is found on page 2.
One final comment may be necessary on the letter text. All letters, as
printed, have dates of composition and a place of origin. Ordinarily these
were included in the original; in instances where Roosevelt failed to supply
the information, it has been added. In doubtful cases — either of date or place
— the doubt is registered in a footnote.
The letters thus selected and reproduced have been supplied with editorial
comment. The plain rule that has been established for this purpose is that
insofar as possible the letters should be left to carry themselves. When re-
marks are added, they should be restricted to information that will make a
letter or series of letters more intelligible to the reader.
Much of the comment is simply identification of men and women whose
names appear in the text. The following procedures govern here. Those
figures sufficiently described in the letter, as, for instance, William Gary,
congressman from Wisconsin, are passed by without further notice. Other
supernumeraries — such as parents who attract the Presidential attention
when, to his exuberant approval, they have brought twelve children into
the world — are likewise left without further comment. At the other end
of the spectrum of fame the pre-eminent names of history have been left to
stand by themselves. There seems to be no compelling reason to describe
Grover Cleveland as a President of the United States or Mark Twain as a
novelist of distinction.
Those other men and women who occupy the middle ground of history
we have supplied with brief biographies. As a general rule these biographies
are given at the first mention of the person in question. Rarely, when it
appears appropriate, the identifying remarks or extended biographical com-
ment is deferred until later mention. Material for these biographies has been
drawn from many sources; here it is necessary to acknowledge a debt to the
Dictionary of American Biography.
As with men, so with issues. With the insignificant and the obvious we
have tried to let well enough alone. In other instances the effort has been
xx
co supply only enough information to place a letter or a series of letters
within an appropriate context. When this information is easily available in
published form, citation to the relevant works has been considered sufficient,
and in most cases these citations are limited to the books that have appeared
most reliable and comprehensive. When published explanation is not readily
available, editorial comment, sometimes extended, has been supplied. In
important cases the sources of information upon which the comments rest
are cited; in minor instances citation is ordinarily dispensed with.
These are the rules by which the volumes have been prepared. That the
rules are arbitrary, that they rest in some cases upon nothing more substan-
tial than personal prejudice is, of course, clear. And that in application they
may be subtly or crudely distorted is likewise obvious. In the preceding
pages much has been said about the selection of "relevant" letters, the in-
troduction of the "appropriate" comment, the rejection of material that
might "properly" be eliminated. These are, as Mr. Roosevelt would say,
weasel words designed to insinuate the idea of an unfailing touch in judg-
ments that are, in the nature of things and human beings, fallible. This is
the realm in which the few plain rules are left behind and one relies perforce
on the few strong instincts.
It seems appropriate here in this introduction to say a few words about
these instincts that have served us in applying the rules. Letters, good letters,
to John Burroughs have been rejected not only because they appear to
duplicate the spirit of other letters, but also and primarily because of editorial
fatigue at the thought of further tramping in the haunts of coot and tern.
Letters, trivial letters to a forgotten man, have been included because editorial
attention has become as fascinatedly fixed, as had the Presidential, upon the
further adventures of the horse Bleistein.
In certain footnotes, as in the case of a civil service issue, if there ap-
pears unprejudiced judgment, it is, quite possibly, only a reflection of indif-
ference to the issue in question; while in certain others, on railroad legisla-
tion for instance, approval of or irritation with cause or idea may well —
and indeed does — sometimes infect the comment theoretically sterilized by
editorial detachment.
Again it may seem odd that Howard Pyle receives extended and fond
identification while Henry James is permitted to recall himself to the reader's
mind by his own intricate devices. In part, in the particular case, this has been
done because Howard Pyle seems on investigation already to have slid un-
noticed below the horizon of public memory, while to anyone who lived
through the past decade it must appear that rather more than all that it was
decently necessary to do to keep alive the name of Henry James has been
done.
These distortions of emphasis and judgment have been introduced wisely
or unwisely for several other reasons. To begin with, societies, unlike indi-
viduals, appear to remember only the important things that have happened
xxi
to them. There seems to be, within the public memory, a kind of centrifugal
force that spins the lighter, or at least more inconsequential, elements of the
past out and away from recollection. What remains are the heavier particles
— the wars, the big ideas, the larger acts of the imagination; these are re-
tained as a continuing part of the cultural heritage. Thus, for instance, in
the age of Roosevelt there are left to us among others Henry James, Social
Darwinism, Thomas Eakins, the regulation of industrial enterprise, and
Elihu Root. Tossed beyond the gravitational tug of public memory are those
men and notions of lighter weight — Edgar Fawcett, Cahenslyism, Bruseius
Simons, the two-day ice monopoly in New York City, or Little Egypt. With
these less consequential elements eliminated, our present heritage may now
be purer and more sustaining, but our memory of the age of Roosevelt may
.well differ from what the age that read Fawcett, fought over Cahenslyism,
or was shocked by Little Egypt really was. It seems not unwise, in a work of
this kind, to rescue these men and things from the oblivion that is closing over
them; to restore as many of the elements as possible to the true solution of
the age of Roosevelt as it existed before the separation by time's centrifuge
set in.
There is a second reason for such distortions of emphasis as may be dis-
covered. The editorial function is, intellectually, forbidding. There is the
stern requirement of uniform procedure; there is the enforced and restless
shifting between the half-exposed personalities and among the unrelated
ideas, at the whim of chronology and the letter writer; there is the constant
arbitrary concern with format at the expense of real form. Within the
editorial ordinances there is small chance to fulfill impulses of independence
or individuality. Strong instincts cannot always be at the mercy of plain
rules. We have, therefore, from time to time permitted ourselves the un-
trammeled responses to the material offered by Theodore Roosevelt that we
trust — or hope — that historians will permit to themselves. These eccen-
tricities of selection, comment, and rejection occur in a process that abhors
eccentricity. That they have not damaged or limited the contribution that
the letters of Theodore Roosevelt should make is our hope.
Elsewhere the origin of the editorial group that is preparing these vol-
umes for publication has been described. Here a brief description of how
the group works may be included. To begin at the beginning — with the
assembly of the letters — John Blum and I have each examined a few of
the collections, but the full burden of the search fell upon Miss Hope
Williams. This is a task requiring at times, as anyone who has ever done it
knows, tact and patience, as well as an instinct for the root and the branch.
The four thousand letters discovered by Miss Williams suggest in what
.degree she possesses these qualities and, one may say with confidence,
'include every letter buried within the collections. David Widdicombe
xxii
searched with speed and skill in England, as did Sherman Davis in certain
files of the National Archives. In this connection it may be well to repeat
again our indebtedness to the members of the staff of the Manuscripts
Division of the Library of Congress, the.members of the staffs of the various
divisions of the National Archives, and of the other libraries, who did so
much to assist and facilitate our investigations.
The microfilm copies of the letters thus discovered — or already at hand
in the Roosevelt Collection in the Harvard College Library — are screened
preliminarily by Miss Nora Cordingley. A librarian in the Roosevelt Memo-
rial Association for two decades, she is thoroughly familiar with both the
author of these letters and the letters themselves. Her faithful performance
of a difficult and often unpleasant job and her continued demonstration of
wise judgment have saved us much time and many errors over a period of
years.
The product of the preliminary selection is then photostated by the
Harvard College Library which sends the material to us at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. John Blum and Hope Williams together then make
a further selection from the photostats. An effort is made at this period to
work within the dimensions of a single volume — about a thousand letters
ordinarily. When these thousand letters have been chosen from the avail-
able photostats, the research on which editorial comment is based is carried
forward primarily by John Blum with Miss Williams. The work is divided
between them, ordinarily by subject matter — diplomacy, domestic politics,
reclamation, the military, and so forth. After these principal areas have been
blocked out, there is always a residue of the unclassifiable. This is distributed
between the two in accordance with the dictates of conscience and generos-
ity. When the necessary evidence has been assembled, the appropriate edi-
torial comments are prepared and pinned to the photostats which, in turn,
are filed in folders covering two-week periods.
The evidence upon which the editorial comment rests is, in large part,
the product of the successful collaboration of John Blum, Mrs. Margaret
Dunbar Kleindienst, and Miss Hope Williams. Mr. Blum, the only fully
trained historian in the group, has held the principal responsibility in the
conduct of the research. To his knowledge and understanding of the Ameri-
can scene as to his own energy and resourcefulness this work and other
members of the group owe much.
When research and comment on a volume have been completed, the
letters, accepted and annotated or rejected, are given a semifinal review.
Following the review, the manuscript is prepared for the printer by the
editorial section of the group. John J. Buckley, who has been with us since
the beginning as Copy Editor, with first Joanna Crawford and, at present,
Margaret Hinchman, performs this arduous task, involving as it does an
infinite capacity for taking, and absorbing, pains. Here the full names of
addressees are supplied, together with the date and place of origin of each
< • • •
XX1U
letter; the errors of Roosevelt's stenographers are corrected; typed copies of
letters and all notes are proofread aloud; citations of secondary works hinted
at by the historians are completed and verified; the names of all men men-
tioned and epitomes of all letters are entered on card files. The successful
performance of these matters of infinite detail commands occasionally the
sympathy and at all times the respect of those of us who only stand and
watch.
Before the manuscript is sent off to the printer, it is again subjected to
a complete critical review. The foregoing description of how the volumes
are put together was designed to explain the nature of each member's con-
tribution. The effort was, of course, ordained to failure. The penalty for
individual members in any group work is that in the final product the nature
of any particular individual's contribution is impossible to isolate and iden-
tify. But the final product is the only thing exposed to public view; the
daily operations where individual influences can be seen — or, more accu-
rately, felt and assessed — is regrettably beyond the reach of public observa-
tion. Still it may be possible to correct certain inequities. On the title page ap-
pear the names of three men, which is in accordance with the great tradition
that, in scholarship as elsewhere, the male predominates. Comforting in
general principle as this may be, in the particular instance at least, it creates
a false impression. The women who have participated in the work cannot
be dismissed, as women usually are in prefaces, as severest critics, painstaking
readers of manuscript, or purveyors of that special kind of spiritual support
without which die work would never have been finished. These women —
Sydney Adam, Joanna Crawford, Evelyn Garvin, Nancy Evarts, Margaret
Hinchman, Margaret Kleindienst, Nell Krusemeyer, Sylvia Rice, and Hope
Williams have indeed rendered all these classic services. But they have also
borne with us the full burden, as they have greatly reduced the heat, of the
working day. Mrs. Krusemeyer has, virtually singlehanded, prepared the
index. Margaret Kleindienst, who left at the end of the first year, Margaret
Hinchman and Hope Williams, who have now been with us the longest, have
all been, as nearly as anyone can be, indispensable. To their devoted intelli-
gence, taste, and thoughtfulness these volumes owe much, and I owe more.
The expected product of this combined effort is eight volumes of letters
and a ninth volume containing an index and biographical references. The
volumes will be published, two at a time, on a projected schedule of four a
year. Each set of two will have its own index.
In these volumes errors will be discovered — errors in names, dates, spell-
ing, page citation, and so on. Procedures to reduce the incidence of the
incorrect have been set up. From first to last, each letter is read at least
eight times. All typed manuscript before going to the printer and all proof
returning from the printer is read aloud by two readers. All footnotes are
checked twice — once before going to the printer and once in galley proof
by someone who has had no previous connection with the work. By these
xxiv
processes, experience reveals, error can be reduced but not eliminated, for it
is apparently more difficult for man to be accurate than to be good. It is, how-
ever, hoped that errors will never appear in any place in sufficient quantity
to undermine the reader's faith in the letters of Theodore Roosevelt as here
reproduced.
Only one thing remains to be said in connection with this editorial ex-
perience. It is perhaps irrelevant, but in a time when the work of the lonely
student is being supplemented, if not replaced, by the work of organized
companies of scholars a further word may not be out of place. There is
always the real danger of losing momentum in such an enterprise with its
confining pattern and its ultimate objective so far removed from the day's
work. Something to prevent a loss of momentum can be done by such simple
devices as alternation of jobs, long vacations, the setting of arbitrary dead-
lines. But forward motion appears to depend, especially in the absence of
immediate results, upon a group's belief not in its diversions or expected
achievements, but in itself. There were several reasons, at the outset, why
this group should not believe in itself. No member had ever had anything to
do with editorial work — the method was unknown, the exact shape of the
product ill-defined. The various parts of the process, which ultimately had
to fit together, were divided up among people who did not fully under-
stand their own jobs or the jobs of their colleagues upon whom they were
dependent. Two things only were obvious — no single person could do the
work of the whole, while anyone, by withholding himself or his contribu-
tion, could prevent the whole from working. There was thus presented an
interesting problem in the creation of mutual support and confidence. The
individuals named above succeeded in solving the problem. It seems to have
been accomplished in this fashion. Apparently there were enough people
whose trust in their own competence was sufficient to enable them to trust
all the others. Everyone was thus at liberty to explore his individual capacities
and to define the extent of his own participation within the corporate struc-
ture. By some such method the group derived its collective assurance, that
is from the interchange of assurance between the working parts. Whatever
the cause this may be said: To anyone who has observed the process and
profited by the result, the real achievement of the members seems not so
much these books as the development by themselves of a group that could
produce these books.
*
Of the two volumes of letters here presented, the first covers the years of
Roosevelt's life from his first available letter written in 1868 until the middle
of his career in the Navy Department; the second ends with the close of his
term of office as Governor of New York on January i, 1901. The first is in
many ways the least satisfactory volume of the whole series. In the thirty
years covered by the volume, Roosevelt grew from uncertain youth to buoy-
xxv
ant early middle age; he wrote eight different books, married twice, studied
for two different professions, ran for two different public offices, served as a
state legislator, held three minor government administrative posts. Such a
volume can have no prevailing continuity and no essential form. It can only
be what it is — a collection of letters — but, in comparison with the volumes
that follow, the letters themselves are, in general, of restricted historical value.
For one thing Roosevelt had not by 1 898 yet entered the center of national
life. His correspondence must therefore deal ordinarily with matters of sec-
ondary interest. For another, a fair number of these letters have — in whole,
in bowdlerized whole, or in part — been published before. And finally, a
good many of them depend for complete understanding or full interest upon
special knowledge of people or events now beyond the reach of the investi-
gator. Taken by themselves they appear more suggestive than definitive.
But there are perhaps more redeeming features than this jaundiced assess-
ment may indicate. Certainly Roosevelt's critical views of a social life now
passed from view — the New York society of the eighties that he knew well
— will arouse the interest of many beside the social historian; certainly his-
torians primarily concerned with civil service, if such there be, will find
rewarding evidence for their investigation; and certainly the student of gov-
ernment administration — municipal, state, and national — will discover use-
ful material in the reasonably full record here set forth by an incomparable
administrator who was taking his first lessons in the trade. Though this
volume may contain not much that is new, it should furnish interesting evi-
dence to adorn or confirm the old. And for us, this volume has certain
permanent claims to redemption. It was the first, the one at which we hacked
and hewed, pulled and shoved, and cut and tried as we worked toward our
ultimate editorial solutions; like the belfry of Bruges, it has been thrice torn
down and thrice rebuilded. Doubtless it has the marks to show, but in its
present form it is for us a kind of damaged miracle that we never believed
would come to pass. Therefore we are fond of it.
The second volume, devoted chiefly to the governorship, may also, be-
cause of its restricted scope, command less interest for the reader than later
volumes. Yet for those who find state government a valuable and neglected
subject, or for those who delight in the subtle interplay of pressure and per-
sonality that characterizes any politics, these pages should offer stimulating
evidence. And for those attracted to die mind and personality of Theodore
Roosevelt, this may prove an especially rewarding volume. It was in these
two years that he was first presented with many of the administrative and
political problems he later dealt with as President and in these years of ap-
prenticeship that he worked out his primary methods and attitudes.
There have been those in the past three years who have, in the cause of
friendship, marveled at our fortitude in proceeding with this task — not only
because of the unfruitful nature of the editorial process, not only because of
the presumed struggles to contain the rising tide of letters, but because of
xxvi
Theodore Roosevelt himself. The origins of this solicitude have been ex-
plicitly stated. What kind of a correspondent was a man who had been called
by those who knew him best "the child," "the child of seven," "pure act,"
and that "violent and spasmodic mind?"
The only possible answer is that he was a good correspondent. There are
of course limitations. It would be idle to pretend that in the following pages
there are not arid tracts that were crossed only by forced marches in what
were conceived to be the interests of the historical profession. There is also
discoverable in these letters a recognition, too frequently and precisely stated,
of the less recondite facts of life. There is on only rare occasions that specula-
tion on the larger questions of existence that give so many famous letters their
peculiar tone and enduring vitality.
Still he remains a correspondent whose letters one can read, after three
years of reading, with unfailing pleasure. There is the forthright statement
of opinion, the tremendous range of interest, the really incredible hold over
factual information, the technical skill, fully revealed, of the finished poli-
tician — all those things that have become legendary. In these letters evidence
is furnished in support of the legends. But there is a further thing, more sig-
nificant to the constant reader than any other. Even in the murk that sur-
rounds so much minor political negotiation there is, as there was for Bardolph
and Pistol, a saving "touch of Harry in the night."
The touch is, naturally, indefinable. It is not in the index. A man who
knew him, in trying to reach a definition, once said that Roosevelt probably
was not a great President, but he was a great man. This is a curious, suggestive
remark. -Roosevelt himself would have rejected it.
Scattered through his letters one finds flat-footed self-appraisals that have
nothing to do with modest protestations. He had written six books by the
time he was thirty, and he said frequently that he did not write well. He said
that he was not only ignorant but stupid about matters financial and eco-
nomic. He said that he did not have the critical capacity to assess Hamlet;
he could never advance beyond the simple action of Macbeth. He admitted,
and it must have been with some pain, that he rode a horse indifferently and
was not more than an ordinary rifle shot. Twice at least, in response to direct
questions, he replied that he had no real distinction of mind. The interesting
thing is that all these disclaimers are probably true, although intellectually
there were the distinguishing characteristics of an almost obsessive curiosity
and a memory with total recall.
Still there is incontrovertibly the feeling that Theodore Roosevelt was a
great man. This has something to do with his own feeling about himself. It
is endearing to find anyone and especially a public figure who has such honest
reservations about his capacity, but it is not a convincing argument for great-
ness. That must be sought elsewhere — not in the knowledge of his limitations
but in the very fact that this knowledge was never permitted to limit the
complete use of his known potential. Whatsoever his hand found to do, he
xxvii
decided to do with such might as he had. This capacity for total investment
of himself gave him delight not so much in the achievement — a three-volume
history, a canal, a six-pronged buck — but, as he used to say in one of his
favorite quotations, "in life the mere living of it." Of this delight it may be
said that it is rarer than you think. And when it does appear, it is rarely the
product of some congenital mechanism like a happy temperament. Certainly
this was not the case with Theodore Roosevelt. There is apparent throughout
his life a surprising determination. The energies and talents he possessed were
not placed at birth in some natural harmony; they were through passing years
organized and directed by a sustained and splendid act of the will.
Nowhere is the operation of this will more apparent than in his determi-
nation to commit himself in thought and, obviously, in action. The gift for
complete involvement is, along with the sense of wonder, the special capacity
of the child. Somewhere along the path to age, in most men, these qualities
are either lost or damaged. Roosevelt succeeded in preserving them — in
keeping his delight in the mere living of life. In this sense Spring Rice and
those old ironists John Hay and Henry Adams were correct in their discov-
ery of adolescence in their friend — for the turbulent energy, the curiosity
which is the sense of wonder, and the ability to lose oneself totally in the
event remained with Theodore Roosevelt until his heart stopped beating.
These are qualities that grown men, in self-protection, find it hard to take
seriously. And there is so much else in the career of Theodore Roosevelt that
it is difficult to take seriously — beginning with the mice in the bureau
drawer and ending with the proposal to fight the armies of Imperial Ger-
many with a regiment of reinvigorated Rough Riders. In actual fact these
things and the others like them may have been dismaying; on paper when
set forth with care, they have certainly from time to time been made hilari-
ous. They are those inevitable defects that attend all virtues so very faith-
fully; and they may, if one can measure such matters, have made him some-
thing less than a great President. This judgment need not be argued here; the
evidence lies, in any case, throughout the letters that follow. But it may be
pointed out, in passing, that a half-century ago Roosevelt as President under-
took to demonstrate that this country was a member of a community of
nations; that he understood at that time what few of his countrymen have
understood at any time: that national policy is ordinarily effective within the
community only to the extent that the instruments of policy are effective;
and, finally, that he recognized that this was an industrial society with the
values, virtues, symptoms, and diseases of a civilization that rests on industry.
He tried, as none before him and few after him in his position have done, to
define the values and to treat the diseases. To a resident of this country in
1950, the administration of Theodore Roosevelt must appear to have, at least,
a certain relevance.
But the Presidential virtues are not of primary concern here. As a man
Roosevelt laid hold on life with an ardor that communicated itself to all
around him. Hundreds of men and women have testified that, by his spirit, he
set up in them a sharp awareness of the joy of participation in life's affairs —
a joy they could not have discovered by themselves. It was, in the broadest
sense, as one person has said, "the fun of him." Something of this fun, pre-
served through half a century on fading paper, has communicated itself to
those who have prepared these volumes for the press.
xxix
New York and Cambridge
1868-1881
SYMBOLS
{ } Single angle brackets indicate material crossed out but decipherable.
« » French quotation marks indicate editorial interpretations of illegible words.
[ ] Square brackets indicate editorial interpolations.
Three dots indicate a missing word.
.... Four dots indicate two or more missing words.
° A superior zero placed after the manuscript source indicates that the
entire letter is in Roosevelt's handwriting.
A, B, c, . . . A small capital, A, B, c, etc., pkced after a letter number indicates that
that letter was acquired and inserted after the original manuscript had gone
to press.
I • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT RobinSOn MSS.°
New York, April 28, 1868
My Dear Mamma I have just received your letter! What an excitement. How
nice to read it What long letters you do write. I don't see how you
can write them. My mouth opened wide with astonish when I heard how
many flowers were sent in to you. I could revel in the buggie ones. I
jumped with delight when I found you heard the mocking-bird, get some
of its feathers if you can. Thank Johnny for the feathers of the soldier's cap,
give him my love also. We cried when you wrote about Grand-Mamma.
Give my love to the good natured (to use your own expresion) handsome,
lion, Conie, Johnny, Maud and Aunt Lucy. I am sorry the trees have been
cut down. Aunt Annie, Edith,1 and Ellie send their love to you and all I
sent mine to. I send this picture to Conie. In the letter you write to me tell
me how many curiosities and living things you have got for me. I miss
Conie very much. I wish I were with you and Johnny for I could hunt for
myself. Here is Gome's letter
My dear Conie As I wrote so much in Mamma's letter I can not write so
much in yours I have got four mice two white-skined, red eyed, velvety
cretures very tame for I let them run all over me they trie to get down
the back of my neck and under my vest and two brown-skined, black-eyed
soft as the others but wilder. Lordy and Rosa are the names of the white
mice which are male and female. I keep them in different cages
My Dear Papa You can all read each other's letters I hear you were very
seasick on your voyage and that Dora2 and Conie were seasick before you
passed Sandy-hook. Give my greatest love to Johnny. You must write too.
Wont you drive Mamma to some battlefield for she is going to get me
some trophies. I would like to have them so very much. I will have to stop
now because Aunty wants me to learn my lessons. The chaffinch is for you,
the wren for Mamma. The cat for Conie. Yours loveingly
P.S. I like your peas so much that I ate half of them.
2 • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR RobinSOn
New York, April 30, 1868
My Dear Father I received your letter yesterday. Your letter was more ex-
citing than Mother's. I have a request to ask of you, will you do it? I hope
you will, if you will it will figure greatly in my museum. You know what
supple jack's are do you not? Pleas get one for Ellie and two for me. Ask
1 Edith Kermit Carow, second wife of Theodore Roosevelt. For the identification of
members of the Roosevelt family mentioned in this and later letters see Chart i.
'Dora Watkins, nurse of the Roosevelt children.
your friend to let you cut off the tiger-cat's tail and get some long moss
and have it mated together. One of the supple jack's (I am talking of mine
now) must be about as thick as your thumb and finger. The other must be
as thick as your thumb. The one which is as thick as your finger and thumb
must be four feet long, and the other must be three feet long. One of my
mice got crushed. It was the mouse I liked best though it was a common
mouse. It's name was Brownie. Nothing particular has happened since you
went away for I cannot go out in the country like you can. The trees and the
vine on our piazza are buding and the grass is green as can be and no one
would dream that it was winter so short a time ago. All send love to all
of you. Yours loveingly
3 • TO EDITH KERMIT CAROW RM.A.
Sorrento, January i, 1870
My Dear Eidie We came from Naples today. I have recieved your interesting
letter and reply to it on paper recieved on Christmas. Yesterday we made
the ascent of Mt. Vesuvius. It was snow covered which heightened our en-
joyment. We went first in caraiges for a long while. We then got out and
mounted ponies. We mounted now pretty steadily. At first we walked but
after a while Papa, Ellie and I galloped ahead with two guides and one
strange gentleman. These guides were the only pnes mounted. We galloped
along untill we came to a gulley coated with ice on which the horses
walked with 2 legs on one side and 2 legs on the other side. We got to a
house where we dismounted to wait for the others and as Conie came up
she gave me a great big snowball on the side. I would have thrown another
at her but we had to mount and Ellie and I galloped ahead till we came to
the place where we got off our horses. I made a snowball and as Conie
came up hit her. We then began the ascent of snow covered Mt. Vesuvius.
I went first with one guide with a strap in which I put my hands. One place
where the side was steeper than any alp I have been on the guide and I
fell We recovered ourselves right away. Our Alpine stocks went down far-
ther and our guide had to go down to get them. I got up to near the top
we went inside of a wall where the snow ceased and it was quite warm.
We then went on untill we came to a small hole through which we saw a
red flame inside the mountain. I put my alpine stock in and it caught fire
right away. The smoke nearly suffacated us. We then went on and saw a
larger hole through which I could fall if I liked. We put some pebbles
down and they came up with pretty good force. We here sat down to lunch.
We ate some of the eggs boiled in Vesuvius sand. Ellie and I played with
some soildiers and then we began the decent. This was on the opposite
side of the mountain. I was the last, then Mama with Papa on one and a
guide on the other side of her and then the rest. We went down the side
in loose dirt in which I sunk up to my knees. The decent was verry steep.
Mama was so exausted she could hardly walk. When we got to the bottem
we mounted our horses and went along a miserable road. There were places
where the men who were on foot could hardly walk so it was verry hard
for the horses. We then drove to the hotel. But now goodby. Evere your lov-
ing friend,
4 • TO ANNA BULLOCH GRACIE R.M.A- AiSS.°
Sorrento, January 2, 1870
My Dear Aunt Annie, Will you send the enclosed to Eidith Carow. I am
ever so much obliged to you for your present. It was a pair of lamps on the
style of the ancient Pompeiien ones. I cannot thank you enough for them.
The day before yesterday we went up Vesuvius, and the day before that we
went to Pompei. I have described the former in Eidie's letter so I will de-
scribe the latter now. We started from the hotel in a caraige. I saw some thing
I dont think you have ever seen. It was a horse and an ox harnesed or yoked
in the same wagon. I saw severel of these while going and more while come-
ing back. We got to Pompeii at last and went inside. We went up the street
of Tombs in to the house of Diamond. We saw the courtyard all covered
with Mosiac. We then saw the hot and cold bath rooms. We saw the spout
for the water to come out and the steps to go down in them. We then
went in to severel of the bed rooms and the dining room. We went in to
the celler. 17 skeletons were found here We then went in to the fruit yard.
On one side of this was found the master himself (his skeleten) and a slave.
The master (Diamond) had a bag of coins in his hand. I picked up a mosiac
for you. We saw the oven where they burn the bodies of the dead and
the vases for their ashes. We went on and saw several temples and houses.
We saw the place where the prisoners were kept, the comic and tragic
theaters and the bakers shop. We saw well preserved frecos on the wall and
Mosiacs. We came yesterday here in car and caraige, and yesterday eve-
ning two Italian boys played to us. Mr. Stevens was verry funny and washe
one of their faces with wine and water and put kisengin water and the
faces, but now goodby Ever Yours
5 • TO ANNA BULLOCH GRACIE R.M.A. MSS.°
Dobbs Ferry, July 7, 1872
Dear Auntie We had the most splendid fun on the fourth of July. At eight
oclock we commenced with a discharge of three packs of firecrackers, which
awoke most of the people. But we had only begun now, and during the
remainder of the day six boxes of torpedoes and thirty six packs of fire-
crackers kept the house in an exceedingly lively condition. That evening
it rained which made us postpone the fireworks untill next evening, when
they were had with great success, excepting the balloons, which were an
awful swindle. We boys assisted by firing roman candles, flowerpots and
bengolas. We each got his fair share of burns.
Conie had a slight attack of asthma last night but I took her riding this
morning and we hope she is well now. Your ponie, Fritz and Grant all
have sore backs. Mr. Goulding is spending Sunday with us. Mr. Fred Elliot
and Mr. Russel Hodge staid the fourth of July with us. Uncle Hill is going
down to Oyster Bay on Monday to stay several days.
We are permitted now to stay in the water as long as we please. The
other day I came near being drowned, for I got caught under water and was
almost strangled before I could get out. I study English, French, German
and Latin now. Ellie do'nt have Latin. Mother, Bamie and Father send love.
Ellie and I have just had a splendid time at Oyster Bay where we have been
for a visit. Bamie spent the fourth at Barrytown where she had Tableaux,
Dances &c. to her hearts content. Give my love to Uncles and Cousin Jim-
mie, Aunt Hattie &c. Tell Aunt Hattie I will never forget the beautiful
jam and the splendid times we had at her cottage. Ever your little
P.S. The ponies are recovering. I forgot that I had been to Oyster Bay,
before you went to Europe.
6 • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR R.M.A. MSS.Q
Philadelphia, September 18, 1872
Dear Father I think I will stay till Saturday as I am having a splendid time.
I go to the Accademy every spare moment and am allowed to have the run
of all the 38^00 books in its Library. They have got quite a number of
specimens, also. I have not time to write much. Your Affectionate
P.S. I do not like Mama's pens.
7 • TO ANNA BULLOCH GRACIE R.M.A. MSS.°
Near Kom Ombos, January 26, 1873
Dear Aunt Annie, My right hand having recovered from the imaginary atack
from which it did not suffer, I proceed to thank you for your kind present,
which very much delighted me. We are now on the Nile and have been
on that great and mysterious river for over a month. I think I have never
enjoyed myself so much as in this month. There has always been something
to do, for we could always fall back upon shooting when everything else
fails us. And then we had those splendid and grand old ruins to see, and one
of them will stock you with thoughts for a month. The tempi that I en-
joyed most was Karnak. We saw it by moonlight. I never was impressed
by anything so much. To wander among those great columns under the
same moon that had looked down on them for thousands of years was awe-
inspiring; it gave rise to thoughts of the ineffable, the unuterable; thoughts
which you can not express, which can not be uttered, which can not be
answered untill after The Great Sleep.
Feb. 9th.
I have had great enjoyment from the shooting here, as I have procured
between one and two hundred skins. I expect to procure some more in Syria.
Inform Emlen of this. As you are probably aware Father presented me on
Christmas with a double barrelled breech loading shot gun, which I never
move on shore without, excepting on Sundays. The largest bird I have yet
killed is a Crane which I shot as it rose from a lagoon near Thebes.
The sporting is injurious to my trousers. Here is a picture of a pair.
[sketch]
Now that I am on the subject of dress I may as well mention that the
dress of the inhabitants up to ten years of age is — nothing. After that they
put on a shirt descended from some remote ancestor and never take it off
till the day of their death.
Mother is recovering from an attack of indegestion, but the rest are all
well and send love to you and our friends, in which I join sincerely, and
remain Your Most Affectionate Nephew
8 ' TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT R.M.A.
Dresden, May 29, 1873
Dear Mother, I was very much pleased with your letter, which had a good
deal of good news in it. Your telegram was even more welcome, as afford-
ing subject for speculation for the next ten days. Ellie is about as well as
he could conveniently be, and what could have suddenly caused your anx-
iety I really can not make even a rough guess. I scarcely believe the Mink-
vitz1 opinion that you had a bad dream and telegraphed to see if it was true.
If there is anyone to be uneasy about it is Corinne. A more doleful little
mortal than she is it would be hard to imagine. Excepting when she is
with us or with Aunt Lucy (and very frequently then) she spends most of
her time in crying from sheer homesickness. She is not ill now, but she soon
will soon be, if she goes on as she does now. I think a letter to the effect
that she will only stay here a month would comfort her greatly. All the
Sundays we all go to see dear Aunt Lucy, and on two days we are allowed
to see Johny, who can not always see us however. You must not mind my
writing as I have just been driven all most frantic by learning 25 German
prepositions with accompanying cases, and all the various classes of words
they are used with, in addition to a number of said words, a page of writing
and some poetry. French is even harder drawing is a great pleasure however.
Since Sunday we have done nothing in particular except visit Johnie once,
1The Roosevelt children lived with the Minckwitz family in Dresden for several
months. The primary purpose of the visit was to learn German.
and have Corinne here also. Have you seen about the boxing gloves and gun?
The birds were some I skinned in Paris.
I have overheard a good deal of Minkvitz conversation which they did
not think I understood. Father is considered "very pretty" (sehr hubsch),
and his German "exceedingly beautiful." Motherling is thought very pretty
and beautiful, but does not speak German (which I excused by saying that
it was not the custom to learn barbarous languages in America) and since
the receipt of the telegram, supersrious, from which imputation I find it
rather more difficult to defend you. The opinions as regards dear little Bam-
boozeldum (from whom I received a beautiful (compliment) letter the other
day) are divided; by some she being thought to speak beautiful German,
while others regard her as totally ignorant of that language. I must go to
bed now. Your own little
9 • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR R.M.A. MSS.Q
Dresden, June 15, 1873
Dear Father, Last week has been quite full of novelties. Mother stayed here
unrill yesterday (Saturday) when she went away, at the same time that
Corinne moved, bag and baggage over to here to spend the summer. She sleeps
in the room with Miss Anna and is not as yet a bit homesick. Last Thursday
Anna, Miss Anna Minkvitz, Miss Lina Minkvitz, Elliot and I went out on
an excursion, I with a butterfly net, and a case for beetles. We went first
of all by boat for an hour and a half, then got off an visited an castle from
which we had a beautiful view, and where I got several specimens This after-
noon we will go to Aunt Lucy's. This morning we were at the German
Reformed Church. The service was very like the Presbyterian. I did not
understand much of the Sermon. The German is getting on very well and
the French teacher says that if I knew the tenses of the verbs I would have
a very good knowledge of the French Language. I can read it just and
understand it almost as well as English, and in writing do not make many
mistakes in the mere spelling, but am bad in constructing the sentences.
We (Johnie, Ellie, Maud, Corinne and I) have a little club which meets
once a week and for which we write pieces. Corinne has "come out strong"
in the poetry line.
The boxing gloves are a source of great amusement to us. When ever
Johnie comes to see us we have an hours boxing or so. Each round takes
one to two minutes.
The best round yet was one yesterday between Johnie and I. I shall
describe it briefly. After some striking and warding, I got Johnie into a
corner, when he sprung out. We each warded off a right hand blow and
brough in a left hander. His took effect behind my ear, and for a minute
I saw stars and reeled back to the centre of the room, while Johnie had had
his nose and upper lip mashed together and been driven back against the
8
door. I was so weak however that I was driven across the room, simply
warding off blows, but then I almost disabled his left arm, and drove him
back to the middle where some sharp boxing occurred. I got in one on his
forehead which raised a bump, but my eye was made black and blue. At
this minute "Up" was called and we had to seperate. Elliott can box better
than either of us as he was a winter at a boxing school If you offered
rewards for bloody noses you would spend a fortune on me alone. All send
love. I send love to all. Tell Aunt Lizzy and Aunt Annie that I will write
to them today. Your Aff. Son
10 • TO ANNA BULLOCH GRACIE R.M.A. MSS.Q
Dresden, June 15, 1873
Dear, Darling, Little Nancy, I have received you letter concerning the
wonderful animal, and although the fact of your having described it as hav-
ing horns and being carnivorous has occasioned grave doubts as to your
veracity, yet I think that in course of time, a meeting may be called, and
the matter taken into consideration, although this will not happen untill
after we have reached America.
At present your hopeful nephew is a "bully boy with a black eye"; for
father has sent us some boxing gloves, with which we are continually box-
ing, and yesterday in a round with Johnie I received a blow on my "visual
organ" which nearly shut that useful member up. Johny was damaged in
equal proportion, and Elliott also suffered.
Corinne is staying with us now. Our family is just as nice as it can be. It
consists of the Father, Moth, Herr's Ulrich, Oswald, Frauliens Anna, Emma,
Lina, and Selma. I like Fraulien Anna the best, then Herr Ulrich I think, but
they are all splendid. But nevertheless superstitious. Today Fraulien Anna had
to dine at another table, because if she had sat down with us (we had com-
pany) there would have been 13 at a table. My scientific pursuits cause the
family a good deal of consternation. My arsenic was confiscated and my mice
thrown (with the tongs) out of the window. In cases like this I would ap-
proach a refractory female, mouse in hand, corner her, and bang the mouse
very near her face untill she was thoroughly convinced of the wickedness of
her actions. Here is a view of such a scene, [sketch]
By the way, Mother and Bamie have gone to Carlsbad. Aunt Lucy is here
and we go to see her every Sunday Afternoon. Johnie comes to see us twice
a week, when we box and row on the pond in the park. We will soon swim
now, and perhaps ride sometimes. I came getting on very well with German,
and can read and understand French as well as English. But Frau Minkvitz is
bothering me to go to bed. So Good By. Your Loving
Secretary] & Librfarian] of R[oosevelt] M[useum]
(Shall I soon hail you as a brother — I mean sister — member?)
I I • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR CowleS MSS.Q
Dresden, June 22, 1873
My Dear Father, Did you receive my German letter? I wrote it all by my-
self, and it was sent without any corrections. I have also composed and sent
another and much harder letter; viz. that one to agent of the Austrian Loyd
Co. I did not get this finished and directed to my satisfaction unrill I had
invoked the aid of all the gods and several of the Minkvitzes. Now that
Corinne has come here she is as happy as the day is long, and so are Ellie and
I for tlje (I mean "for the," but it comes natural to write German letters)
for the matter of that. Did you hear that Percy Cushion was a failure? He
swore like a trooper and used disreputable language, so I gave him some
pretty strong hints, which he at last took, and we do not see much more of
him. We have made the acquaintence of another boy, a friend of Johnie's
named Edward Jacobs (spelled that way?) who is a month younger than
me, but much taller and stronger. He is a very nice boy, never swears or uses
language that could not be uttered in ladies drawing room, and yet is always
ready to box or swim or do any other thing we propose. Yesterday he and
Johnie came here in the afternoon. First of all we had some boxing rounds,
in most of which I took a part, and in the only one I had with Ellie received
a bloody nose, and got and gave a number of hard other blows, but he got
rather the best of it. I then had several rounds with Johnie and Edward, in
which I kept my own, as Johnie is smaller, though more used to fighting, and
Edward, although much larger does not know so much about boxing. We
then went swimming in the Elbe, which was perfectly magnificent fun, and
I have not forgotten how to swim a bit. This afternoon we will go to Aunt
Lucys, for the club, as usual. In the last letter from Carsbad Mother and
Anna were very well and getting on very happily. Mrs. Vandervort sends
love. Ask Aunt Annie and Aunt Lizzie if they have received my letters and
give my love to Emlen and tell him that if he does not get fifteen hun-
dred birds and insects this summer, Jimmie and I will get two warrented
hatchets and annihilate him. Your Affectionate Son
I 2 • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR RobinSOn MSS.°
Dresden, June 29, 1873
My Dear Father, I have a conglomerate of good and bad news to report to
you. The former far outweighs the latter however. I am at present suffering
under a very slight attack of Asthma; however it is but a small attack and ex-
cept for the fact that I can not speak, without blowing like an abridged edi-
tion of a hippopotamus, it does not inconvenience me much. We are now
studying hard. The plan of the day is this: halfpast six, up and breakfast which
is through at half past seven, when we study till nine; repeat till half past
twelve, have lunch, and study till three when we take coffee and have till tea
10
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LETTER 13
(at seven) free. After tea we study till ten, when we go to bed. It is harder
than I have ever studied before in my life, but I like it for I really feel that
I am making considerable progress. (Excuse my writing; the asthma has made
my hand tremble awfully). During the week we have had the usual amount
of boxing and blows. I have got the cartridge box! or rather Brown, Shiply
and Co. have it by this time. I wrote to the Agent in Vienna, received a letter
directing me to the baggage station and was there directed to a house for lost
articles, where I found it, but with no address on. I expressed it (petit vitesse)
to London immediately. My collection is going on beautifully (40 animals
and 220 coins, and a few German Natural Historyies) and so is our Club.
On the floor below us there are four children, rangeing from three to
eight years of age, who are just as cunning as they can be, and with whom
we are great friends. My watch is a source of great amusement to them. The
two elder (one of whom, six years old is the smartest and cheefullest of the
lot and my favourite) have discovered the trick of the spring, but the younger
ones persistently use their noses on it, and are astonished that it will only open
when I have it in my hand. I have not been batheing this week as I have been
forced to take a good deal of care of the asthma and it has been raining a
great deal. This afternoon we go to Aunt Lucy's as usual. Elliott and Corinne
are both well. I have received several letters from Mr. Thayer. Mother is all
right. Your Aff. Son
ii
LETTER 13
I 3 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT RoHnSOn MsS.Q
Dresden, October 5, 1873
My Darling Mother, Have you received my last letter? If you do'n't recieve
this one reccollect to tell me in your next. Corinne was sick, but is now well.
At least she does not have the same striking resemblance to a half starved Rare-
coon as she did in the severe stages of the disease. Last night I went to Aunt
Lucy's. The following conversation occurred with the german servant girl
after dinner, in relation to keeping the goose for next day.
Miss Annie (Spindleshanks) "Sehen Sie hier, Sie konnen ein. . . ."
Mrs. Doolitde (Aunt Lucy) "A wenig fur yourself you know."
Maud (Seraphine) "Fur sich selbst, comprenez vous?"
German Servant Girl "Himmel! . . . ?
Quite satisfied with themselves the three ladies continued.
Miss Spindleshanks. "Die rest muss gehashed sein."
Mrs Dolittle. "Es muss gechopped-up in little pieces sein."
Seraphina. "Ich will show you how."
(Curtain drops over the scene of the servant girls harrowed up feelings).
Your aff. Son
I 2
1 4 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT Cobles
New York, April 1 5, 1 874
My orwn darling little Mother, I hope you are having as nice a time on your
visit as I had on mine (for I really think that the two days I spent at Aunt
Susy's were two of the nicest I have had this winter).
I went to Miss Nelly Dean's wedding yesterday, and made myself so agre-
able that one old Lady paid me a compliment. She evidently had a great
deal of discrimination. I made one blunder however, for some sandwitches
dropped into the Charlotte russe and I innocently helped cousin Leila to a
fair share of both. When she got down to the sandwitches her horror was
only equaled by my consternation.
Miss Floyd Jones passed last night with us. She is very nice. Give my best
love to Uncle Hill, Aunt Susy and Dr. Louis. Your oiun little son
I 5 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS
Oyster Bay, June 20, 1875
Dear Bamie, At present I am writing in a rather smelly room, as the fresh
skins of six night herons are reposing on the table beside me; the said night
herons being the product of yesterdays expedition to Loyd's (how do you
spell the name?) neck. Elliot and I rowed over there in his little rowboat, al-
though it was pretty rough. We found my old boat that we lost last year, —
which alone would have amply (repay ed) repaid (!) us for our row.
My wretched horse has not yet recovered, but in two or three days I hope
to be able to ride him. Elliots and Fathers saddle horses are also a little
knocked up, but the rest are in fine condition.
Dr. Swan gave us a very good but rather highflown sermon today. Cousin
Cornell was in the (qhire) choir (I do'n't know what has got into; I can't spell
the simplest word), and fell sound asleep with his head on the railing. Your
Aff. Brother
1 6 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cowles
Burlington, Vermont, July 25, 1875
Dear Ba?me, I was so sorry to miss you on Thursday. Is it not splendid about
my examinations? I passed well on all the eight subjects I tried.
Besides us Harry's brother-in-law, and his married sister (Harry's sister —
the brother-in-law's wife) are staying here. I believe they are Mr. & Mrs.
Brooks, or some such name.
It is a beautiful place but very small; the farm being seven miles distant.
The view is perfectly lovely. Oh, what can I write more? News? I don't
know any. Poetry? I haven't the wit. Then why not ask your pardon and say
good by. Your loving brother
13
17 ' TO ANNA MINCKWITZ FISHER Printed1
New York, February 5, 1876
Dear Frau Fisher: All the family send you many congratulations, in which I
most heartily join. Until Corinne received your letter, we knew nothing
about your marriage, or, indeed, about any of the affairs of your family. Re-
member me most kindly to Herr Leon, and tell him that I wish him all possi-
ble happiness in his marriage. How is Richard? I shall never forget how he
used to sit up with me, at night, when I was sick with asthma.
During the last few years very little of importance has happened to our
family. I have enjoyed excellent health, but mother still continues an invalid,
and Elliot has at times been very ill, so that he has been unable to study and
has been forced to leave New York in the winter. He went to England for a
couple of months, but he was just as sick there, so returned and spent last
winter in Florida. At present he is in Texas.
I shall not go into business until I have passed through college, which will
not be for over four years. What business I shall enter then I do not know,
for we have been forced to give up the glass business on account of the
"panic."
This winter I am studying quite hard, and so is Corinne. We have passed
the summer by the seashore, at a place called Oyster Bay. There we all en-
joyed ourselves greatly, especially Elliot and myself. We had a sailboat, and
each of us had a horse.
Last winter we had much skating, and I was hurt while on the ice, falling
on my head and being senseless for several hours. This winter we have hardly
had any snow or ice.
How is Fraulein Emma? Elliot often has spoken of how she used to teach
him poetry. I am very glad that Fraulein Selma has become such an artist
Remember me to your Herr Father and Frau Mother and to Fraulein Lina.
All the family send their regards, and, with much love from myself, I
remain your true friend
I 8 • TO ANNA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT R.M.A. MSS.°
New York, March 4, 1876
Darling Motherling, How are you, you fussy little thing? What do you mean
by sending that absurd telegram? All of us are much improved in health and
in beautiful spirits, although we have all missed the wee "antedeluvian reptile"
greatly.
My mission class today went off very well. En passant, the boys have
christened me "Teacher Four Eyes," — in playfull allusion to my eyeglasses.
1 Louis Viereck, "Roosevelt's German Days," Success Magazine, 8:672-0 (October
1905). Anna Fisher was one of the Minckwitz family.
14
Rhinelander did not come to the dancing class, probably deterred by the
fact that he is not between 12 & 17. 1 suppose you spoke of him in your note
as "your little boy"? Seriously, darling, I wish you would avoid needlessly
humiliating me, whenever I have a friend some few months older than I am.
I am sorry to say that I will be probably unable to come on to Philadelphia,
as I have lost so much time in my studies through sickness. Give my best love
to old John, sweet Aunt Judy, and my "Father in Science, and with a kiss for
you, Mutterlein, I remain Your Aff. Son
1 9 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT C&wleS MSS.Q
Oyster Bay, July 25, 1876
Dear Bamie, Mr. Cutler1 has probably informed you of how matters went up
to the time of his departure and so I shall begin with yesterday morning and
carry you down to the present; a period of some thirty odd hours. Early in
the morning yesterday I brought West's intended over to visit Corinne, and
after a bath we all went off on a picnic. Tell Miss Jenny that I wore different
suits at the bath and picnic. I know it will please her. At the picnic we pkyed
"Truth," "Character" and a variety of other personal games. Funnily enough
we none of us lost our tempers; on the contrary we got along so amicably
that Corinne prevailed on Fanny2 to stay all night.
In the afternoon Lightf oot and I went out for a ride. All went well until
he lost his presence of mind on suddenly seeing a haycart, and went through
a series of complicated evolutions which materially affected my happiness.
He tied his legs into a knot and then untied them again with great dexterity,
and afterwards wasted his strength in unsuccessful efforts to stand on one
leg. He always was an excentric horse. Your horse by-the-way is in excellent
health.
Mr. and Mrs. Dodge are now staying with us.8 They are very pleasant
indeed, and Father especially enjoys their visit. He will be with us now for
three days, and has started about enjoying his holiday with a vim. I wish he
would not sit down on something black whenever he has on white trousers.
At the close of the day he always has a curiously mottled aspect. Seriously
it is a perfect pleasure to see him, he is so happy and in such good health and
spirits. We become quite stagnant when he is away. Your Loving Brother,
P.S. Remember me to Miss Jenny. How is dear George? Did he introduce
you to Mrs.* "Brevourt"? * Spelt phonetically.
1 Arthur Hamilton Cutler, tutor to the Roosevelt boys. He later organized and
became headmaster of the Cutler School in New York.
•Frances Theodora Smith, close friend of Corinne and Theodore Roosevelt.
* William Earl Dodge, a metal merchant and a member of the firm of Phelps, Dodge
and Company, was a friend of Theodore Roosevelt, Senior, with whom he was
associated in many civic activities.
15
20 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CoivleS
Cambridge, September 29, 1876
Darling Motherling, When I arrived here on Wednsday night I found a fire
burning in the grate, and the room looking just as cosy and comfortable as
it could look. The table is almost too handsome, and I do not know whether
to admire most the curtains, the paper or the carpet. What would I have
done without Bamie! I have placed your photograph on the mantel-piece,
where I can always see Motherling, the Babbit, and my "Garrulous Uncle." *
I do not begin work until Monday, when I shall start with seven or eight
hours a day. I rise at 7.15, attend prayers at 7.45 and at 8 take breakfast at
common's, where the food is very fair. We have lunch at half past twelve,
and dinner at half past five.
Please to send on in the valise, as soon as possible, with the paper and ink-
stand, my skates. If I can borrow a bag, I intend to spend next Sunday with
Mr Minot,2 who absolutely called on me the day after I arrived! With best
love to all, I remain Your Loving Son
21 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT Cobles MSS.°
Cambridge, October 6, 1876
Darling Little Motherling, I received your letter yesterday, and have now
just received another long one from Bamie giving a long account of Mr. Jay's
wedding. Tell her that the boy named Saltenstahl whom she spoke of sits at
our table.1 He is very large and fat, looking much like Frank Ward, and
seems a good sort of fellow — but painfully "fresh."
As I am decidedly discontented with the food at Commons I am going to
join a table with some of the Boston men — Andrews, Shaw, Hooper, Peters,
Lampson2 &c. The books and other packages came to hand safely, and I much
1 James K. Grade was the "Garrulous Uncle"; his wife, Anna Bulloch Gracie, was
"Babbit."
"Henry Davis Minot a classmate, son of the Boston lawyer, William Minot, and
brother of Charles Sedgwick Minot, the anatomist. An enthusiastic amateur natural-
ist, Henry at seventeen had written The Land Birds and Game Birds of New Eng-
land (Boston, 1877), which was privately printed. In Papers on Natural History
(The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, National Edition, vol. V, New York, 1926),
pp. 402-406, there is printed a list of birds of the Adirondacks signed by Roosevelt
and Minot in 1877. Minot went into the railroad business, becoming the youngest
railroad president in the country when he took the presidency of the Eastern Rail-
road in Minnesota in 1888. He was killed in a railroad accident in 1890.
1 Richard Middlecott Saltonstall became a Boston lawyer (Gaston, Snow and Salton-
stall). He was the son of Leverett and Rose Smith (Lee) Saltonstall, the father of
Leverett Saltonstall, Governor of Massachusetts and United States Senator.
•William Shankland Andrews became a justice of the New York Supreme Court
(1900-1917), later judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Henry Russell Shaw
became a Boston banker; Arthur Wilson Hooper, a lawyer in Boston; George Gor-
ham Peters, a partner in his father's lumber business (Davenport, Peters and Com-
pany), in Boston. John Lamson became a vice-president of the New York Security
and Trust Company.
16
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obliged for them. Unless it is too much trouble I would like to have my alge-
bra, arithmetic and Xenophon sent on also.
Richardson asked me to pay him the first half year's rent now, if it was
perfectly convenient, and as it was I did so.
This is the way my room is fixed, [sketch] I shall have my bookcase ex-
pressed on here if possible soon, and also some of my books.
Every morning we have prayers at 7.45 in the chapel. Then comes break-
fast; lunch is at one, and dinner at two. On Monday and Tuesday I have four
hours recitation, and Wednsday and Thursday three, and on Friday only
two, Saturday being free.8
The other day I bought my winter clothing, in company with Mr. Minot.
I have not yet bought* my afternoon coat, being undecided whether to have
it a frock or a cutaway.
I am at this moment wearing your slippers, which are very comfortable,
and which remind me of you all the time. With much love to all, and espe-
cially to yourself, darling, I remain Your Loving Son
22 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cobles M W.°
Cambridge, October 15, 1876
My Own Dear Bowie y Thank you ever so much for your three letters. I would
have answered the last two before now, but I now scarcely have time to
write except on Sundays. Sundays I have all to myself, as most of the fellows
are in Boston on that day. As our ideas as to how it should be spent however
are decidedly different, however I do not atall object to their being away.
Last Thursday evening Mrs Shaw, a lady whom Mother met in the White
Mountains, very kindly invited me to spend at her house. After dinner we
went to the Theatre, to see "John Garth," which I thought rather poor.
There was no one at dinner except the family and myself; the daughters were
quite pleasant, and so was the mother, but the latter did not seem very refined.
There is a nephew of hers, Harry Shaw, at our table who seems a very good,
gentleman-sort of fellow. By the way, I am very glad that I joined the table
I am now at, as the food at Commons in gradually getting uneatable; almost
all the fellows I know are leaving it.
Do you think it possible to express on my bookcase, pictures etc. now?
My room, in spite of the swell curtains and paper, looks awfully bare, while
all the other boys have theirs' completely fixed. If it is perfectly convenient,
I should like the above mentioned articles together with any stray ornaments
* For descriptions of Harvard in the late seventies and of Roosevelt's activities as an
undergraduate see Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography, Nat. Ed. XX, 24-29;
Henry James, Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University 1869-1909 (Boston,
1930), vol. I, ch. x, vol. II, ch. xi; James Laurence Laughlin, "Roosevelt at Harvard,"
Review of Reviews, 70:391-398 (October 1924); Henry F. Pringle, Theodore Roose-
velt, a Biography (New York, 1931), pp. 26-39; Donald Wilhelm, Theodore
Roosevelt as an Undergraduate (Boston, 1910) .
I?
1 may happen to possess, and as many of my scientific and poetical books as
you can collect, as soon as possible. Also please send on my best pair of box-
ing gloves — I think they have green wrist bands — my Xenophon and my
Greenleafs Larger Arithmetic. These I need immediately. Hoping this will
not trouble you too much, I am Your Bothersome Brother
2 3 • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR CowleS MSS.Q
Cambridge, October 22, 1876
Dearest Father Your letter with the slip of paper containing an account of
your speech has only just come to hand. Was not Mr Cuders letter ever so
kind? I have also received a letter from Uncle Jimmie' Bulloch, which was
so sweet and touching that it really almost made me feel like crying. I en-
close it to you. I have appreciated greatly the numbers of letters I have re-
ceived from home and have appreciated still more their contents. I do not
think there is a fellow in College who has a family that love him as much as
you all do me, and I am sure that there is no one who has a Father who is also
his best and most intimate friend, as you are mine. I have kept the first letter
you wrote me and shall do my best to deserve your trust. I do not find it
nearly so hard as I expected not to drink and smoke, many of the fellows
backing me up. For example, out of the eleven other boys at the table where
I am, no less than seven do not smoke and four drink nothing stronger than
beer.
I wish you would send in a petition for me to attend the Congregational
church here. I do not intend to wait until Christmas before taking a mission
class, but shall go into some such work as soon as I get settled at the Church.
My expenses have been very heavy hitherto, with paying my room rent
in advance, buying my clothing, etc., but at the worst I will not have to draw
upon you till about Christmass time, and I may not have to do it then.
With best love to all I am, Your Loving Son
P.S. Send back Uncle Jimmie's letter when you have finished.
24 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CoivleS MsS.°
Cambridge, October 23, 1876
My oivn darling Motherling, I am writing to you on Sunday evening, in my
own most comfortable room, with a blazing soft coal fire in the grate, as it
is a damp, unpleasant day. Last week some rather remarkable looking pieces
of furniture arrived, apparently being head-gear for the curtains, and I would
like to know why they were sent. As they are not nearly so pretty as those
now in use I have put them aside on a shelf. I only write on Sundays now as
my work is beginning to press a little on me, one of my Mathematics espe-
cially being very hard.
18
I have become acquainted with a very nice fellow named Townsend, from
Albany.1 He is a cousin of Mr. Thayers. It is really a relief to find someone
whom I know something about, as I have not the slightest idea about the
families of most of my "friends." One of the boys at our table is Arthur
Hooper, the son of Mr. Minots partner.
Fri. evening I went to the Theatre with Harry Shaw, Hooper and Nicker-
son.2 The play was "Paola," which I thought poor. On Saturday I dined with
Mr Thayer, and had a very pleasant time. The twins were very amusing.
George Pellew,8 Townsend and a fellow named Opdyke (he comes from
New York: do you know anything of him?)4 wish me to get up a sort of
whist club with them, and I may do so. Harry Chapin, Minot Welds chum
has a mission class.6
In your next letter give me the address of the Tuckermans' dentist, and
also of some good doctor. With much love to all I remain Your Aff Son
(The doctor is merely in case of accidents)
2 5 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CowleS MsS.°
Cambridge, October 29, 1876
Beloved Motherting The clock and bag are just what I wanted. The spring
of the latter at first proved a sort of Chinese Puzzle to me, but after a day or
two I managed to get it open, and it came into use almost immediately, as I
spent last Sunday with Mr Minot. "Dat highly respectable Babbit" sent me a
beautiful Testament.
Your letter, and one that I have just received from Father, have been put
away in my private drawer. It seems perfectly wonderful, in looking back
over my eighteen years of existence, to see how I have literally never spent
an unhappy day, unless by my own fault! When I think of this, and also of
my intimacy with you aU (for I hardly know a boy who is on as intimate
and affectionate terms with his family as I am) I feel that I have an immense
amount to be thankful for. With many thanks for my birthday gifts I am
Your Loving Son
1 Howard Townsend, a classmate, became a New York lawyer and civic figure, and
was a trustee of the Roosevelt hospital.
1 Thomas White Nickerson became an Episcopalian minister, rector of St. Stephen's
Church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
•William George Pellew later practiced kw in Boston, then became a writer for
the New York Sun. He was the class poet of his year, author of a volume of poetry
and of John Jay (Boston, 1890) in the American Statesmen Series.
* Leonard Eckstein Opdycke became a New York lawyer.
5 Henry Bainbridge Chapin, a nephew of the president of the Boston and Albany
Railroad, worked as a freight agent after college, then became a banker and
broker in Boston. Christopher Minot Weld became a financier, active in many
Boston enterprises, president of the Massachusetts Gas Company and the New Eng-
land Cotton Yarn Company.
19
26 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.Q
Cambridge, November 19, 1876
Darling Motherling I shall spend Thanksgiving day with you, coming on
on Wednsday night. I had hoped to be also able to stay over Friday and
Saturday, but owing to examinations occurring at that time I shall have to
leave on Friday morning, and even then shall be obliged to cut a recitation.
It will be perfectly lovely to see you all again. Although I have enjoyed my-
self greatly here, very much more, even, than I had expected, yet I do not
think I have ever appreciated more the sweetness of home. I have not been
atall homesick however, except when I was a little under the weather. I have
been in beautiful health, and I do not think I shall have any difficulty atall
on that score: except possibly with my eyes, although these seem alright now.
On Friday afternoon I went down to New Haven with seventy or eighty
of the rest of the boys to see our foot ball team play the Yale men; in which
contest I am sorry to say we were beaten, principally because our opponents
pkyed very foul. We stayed at the New Haven house, and were in rather
close quarters: I roomed with a sophmore named Pat Grant. My Yale
friends, and especially Johny Weeks were very polite to me and showed me
all the principal sights. I am very glad I am not a Yale freshman; the hazing
there is pretty bad. The fellows too seem to be a much more scrubby set than
ours. Your Loving Son
P.S. Thank Babbit for sending me letters so regularly.
27 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.°
Cambridge, December 14, 1876
Darling Pussie I ought to have written you long ago, but I am now having
examinations all the time, and am so occupied in studying up for them that
I have very little time to myself, — and you know how long it takes me to
write a letter. I have had a very monotonous life since I left you, the only
excitement being the dancing class which is quite pleasant. Quite a number
of my acquaintances will be in New York for part of the vacation, and as I
wish to introduce some of them to my swell little sister, I may as well describe
a few of my chief friends — principally my table companions. Tom Nicker-
son is the one who started our table. He is quite handsome with a truly re-
markable black moustache. At first he gives one the impression of being
effeminate, but is not a bit so in reality, being one of our best football players.
Bob Bacon is the handsomest man in the class, and is as pleasant as he is
handsome.1 He is only sixteen; but is at least as large as Emlen. The two
1 Robert Bacon became Assistant Secretary of State and for a few months in 1909
Secretary of State under Roosevelt.
2O
Hoopers are both very pleasant; one of them is really a man, being over
twenty one, and acts and feels like one; the other is a great, goodnatured awk-
ward boy of eighteen. Three of the best fellows I know here are the three
"Harry's," Shaw, Chapin and Jackson.2 They are really good fellows and
pretty fair students; although I doubt if "dat high-toned pussy-cat" will
appreciate them as much as she will some of my other companions. I do not
know many New York f ellows that I like very much. Pellew and Welling8
(two of my dig friends) are very nice, and both from New York.
I have just received your postal card. I should like a party very much,
if it is perfectly convenient. I should prefer not having it till towards the end
of Christmas week as then many of my friends will be on. Will it not be
splendid to have dear old John Elliot spend Christmas with us!
Yesterday (Dec i6th) I spent in getting Christmas presents. I did not
know what Bamie wished and so got her a pretty edition of Bryants poems.
I hope it will please her. I bought most of my presents at Briggs china store.
Ask Bob Clarkson to the party. I come home sometime next Saturday.
Your Loving Brother
28 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cowks MsS?
Cambridge, January 14, 1877
Darling Bamie, Many thanks for your interesting letter. I felt rather home-
sick for about a day and then began to enjoy myself as usual; although at first
it was pretty hard to study. I did not have time to make any calls, but shall
probably make several, inclusive of one on the Lambs, next week.
Yesterday I went out in the 2.40 train to the Minots; and on arriving I
spent the afternoon in coasting with the boys — Frank, Jim, George, Bob,
Harry and a few others. Harry and I intend to make a collecting trip next
year to the White Mountains or Adirondacks. I should like to have him spend
a week with us next summer. Miss Nellie Upton was staying with the Minots
and sent her love to you — as did the rest.
This morning we went to hear Phillips Brooks (who gave us a really
remarkable sermon) and then I came home to my Sunday-school class, after,
of course, having had a lovely visit.
Give my best love to all the family and to Miss Jennie T. Your Loving
Brother
'Henry Jackson became a Boston physician and a celebrated teacher of medicine
at the Harvard Medical School
8 Richard Ward Greene Welling became a New York lawyer; he was a prominent
reformer, one of the original organizers of the City Reform Club, the Good Govern-
ment Clubs, and the National Municipal League, and chairman of the National
Self -Government Committee. See Appendix III in Volume II.
21
29 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CoivleS
Cambridge, January 1 8, 1877
Darling Mother, Funnily enough I am now kept in the house by a slight attack
of the measles — an amusement I always considered as belonging, together
with rattles and teething purely to babies. I am under Dr Wyman's care1 —
to whom I was recommended by Prof Adams.2
To provide for accidents get Father to send me on 100 dollars. Did you
receive my long letter of last week? I have'n't heard a word from the family
for ten days. Owing to my eyes I must stop here.
Love to all Your Ajf Son
30 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.Q
Cambridge, January 22, 1877
Darling Banae, As you may see by my letter to Corinne I have been having
a pretty gay time during the last week. It is very funny to keep meeting
people whose sisters and brothers I have heard of through you (such as Miss
Whitney, Miss Revere and Miss Lindsay).1 Some of the girls are very sweet
and bright, and a few are very pretty. "Still Oh Anneth I remain Faithful to
Thee!" (The proper name in the above beautiful rhapsody is a compound of
Annie2 and Edith). I feel very joyful at present as I have just succeeded in
removing my condition in Botany. Next Saturday we have an examination in
German.
I think that some holes have been burned in my rug, because the coals
every now and then fall on it. They do not look atall badly however, for the
carpet underneath is nearly the same colour as the rug.
Sunday night I dined with Doctor and Mrs Adams, and had a very pleas-
ant time. After dinner we had some real Turkish coffee. The Doctor improves
very much on acquaintance.
I like the new table (we now board at Mrs Morgan's) very much. Eben
Jordan8 has left College on account of his eyes. Next year, when we get
Minot Weld and Harry Chapin at our table, it will be just perfection. Your
Loving Brother
1 Morrill Wyman was a member of the famous medical family, a lung specialist and
general practitioner in Cambridge.
Henry Adams at this time was teaching medieval history at Harvard and editing
the North American Review.
1 Elizabeth Whitney married James Jackson Minot, brother of Henry Davis Minot;
Susan Torrey Revere married Henry Bainbridge Chapin in 1887; Marian Linzee
married Christopher Minot Weld in 1889.
•Annie Murray, a New York friend of the Roosevelt children.
»Eben Dyer Jordan, son of the president of Jordan Marsh and Company, Boston
department store. He also became president of the store. A prominent patron of
music, he built the Boston Opera House and was president of the New England
Conservatory of Music.
31 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT .Robinson Mss*
Cambridge, February 5, 1877
Little Pwsie, I have had a very pleasant time this week — as in fact I have
every week. It was cram week for "Conic Sections," but, by using most of
my day for study, I had two evenings free, besides Saturday. On Wednesday
evening Harry Jackson gave a large sleighing party. This was great fun, for
there were forty girls and fellows, and two matrons in one huge sleigh. We
sang songs for a great part of the time, as we soon left Boston, and were
dragged by our eight horses rapidly through a great many of the pretty little
towns which form the suberbs of Boston. One of the girls, by name Miss
Wheelwright looked quite like Edith — only not nearly as pretty as her
Ladyship: who when she dresses well and do'n't frizzle her hair is a very
pretty girl. We came home from our sleighride about nine and then danced
till after twelve. I led the German with Harry Jackson's cousin, Miss An-
drews. After the party Bob Bacon, Arthur Hooper, myself and some others
came out in a small sleigh to Cambridge, making night hideous with our
songs.
On Saturday I went, with Minot Weld, to an Assembly (a juvenile one
I mean) at Brookline, where I danced with Miss Fisk. This was a very swell
affair there being about sixty couples in the room. As I knew a good many
of the girls, from having met them out before, I enjoyed myself very much.
'I was introduced to a Miss Richardson, the prettiest girl I have seen for a
long while. She does not have very much to say for herself however. Her
brother is in my class, and (although very bright) is not a particularly
favourable specimen of humanity.
After the Assembly I spent the night with Minot Weld. I like his family
very much, and he himself is a peculiarly manly and gentlemanly fellow. I
came home to day in time for my Sunday School class; I am beginning to
get very interested in my scholars, especially in one who is a very orderly &
bright little fellow — two qualities which I have not usually found combined.
Give my best love to all and thank Father for his dear letter. Elliot's
letters are very interesting. What a splendid time he is having! Your Loving
Brother
P.S. Give enclosed check to Father.
32 • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR, AND MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT
Coivles Mss.°
Cambridge, February 1 1, 1877
Dear Father and Mother, I am going to write such a long, chatty letter that
I think it shall be to both of you together. But first a word to Father: not
only am I not subsisting on husks, but, to carry out the simile, I still have a
good deal of (potted) veal left from the calves so liberally killed for my
benefit at Christmas. On the first of next month, however, I shall get you to
send me on a hundred dollars, as I told you. Perhaps you would like me to
describe completely one day of college life; so I shall take last Monday. At
half past seven my scout, having made the fire and blacked the boots calls
me, and I get round to breakfast at eight. Only a few of the boys are at
breakfast, most having spent the night in Boston. Our quarters now are nice
and sunny, and the room is prettily papered and ornamented. For breakfast
we have tea or coffee, hot biscuits, toast, chops or beef steak, and buckwheat
cakes. After breakfast I study till ten, when the mail arrives and is eagerly
inspected. From eleven to twelve there is a latin recitation with a meek-eyed
Professor, who calls me Mr. Ruse6-felt (hardly any one can get my name
correctly, except as Rosy). Then I go over to the gymnasium, where I have
a set-to with the gloves with "General" Lister, the boxing master — for I
am training to box among the lightweights in the approaching match for the
championship of Harvard. Then comes lunch, at which all the boys are
assembled in an obstreperously joyful condition; a state of mind which brings
on a free fight, to the detriment of Harry Jackson, who, with a dutch cheese
and some coffee cups is put under the table; which proceeding calls forth
dire threats of expulsion from Mrs Morgan. Afterwards studying and recita-
tions took up the time till halfpast four; as I was then going home, suddenly
I heard "Hi, Ted! Catch!" and a base ball whizzed by me. Our two "babies,"
Bob Bacon and Arthur Hooper, were playing ball behind one of the build-
ings. So I stayed and watched them, until the ball went through a window
and a proctor started out to inquire — when we abruptly seperated. That
evening I took dinner with Mr and Mrs Tudor, and had a very pleasant home-
like time. I like both of them very much. Ask Bamie why she never thanked
her for the handkerchiefs. When I returned I studied for an hour, and then,
it being halfpast ten, put on my slippers, which are as comfortable as they
are pretty, drew the rocking chair up to the fire, and spent the next half hour
in toasting my feet and reading Lamb.
Usually there is more study and less play than this, but I generally man-
age to have my evenings free, except for perhaps an hours work, and there
is always something to do; if we do'n't go in to Boston there may be a whist
club or coffee party going on. I do not go often to the Theatre, as I do'n't
care for it, and it might hurt my eyes. On Friday evening I usually go to the
dancing class.
Yesterday (Saturday) I went in town in the afternoon to pay several
party calls — among them one on Miss Madeleine Mixter who unfortunately
was out. I dined with one of my friends, and in the evening went round to
the Andrews where there was quite a little party, and where I had a very
pleasant time. I have lately met a very sweet girl, Miss Elsie Burnett, whose
brother owns the Deerf oot Farm. I think you know him.
I have been going out a good deal lately, but in two or three weeks we
will have a spell of examinations, so we will now have to begin to grind
again. I have had two examinations since Christmass, and I passed one fairly
(over 50 percent) and one very well.1 1 have so much to do that I am not
mid-year examination period, here casually noted by Roosevelt, appears the
most appropriate place in the correspondence to give a brief review of his academic
career. While he was at Harvard 50 was a passing grade, 70 an honor grade in an
elective, and 75 an honor grade in a prescribed course. Roosevelt's four-year record
was good. He finished twenty-first in a class of 158, a standing sufficiently high for
Phi Beta Kappa. He was not, however, a candidate for honors, and at graduation he
received only one "honorable mention," in natural history. The following table is
compiled from grade books in the Harvard Archives and from Harvard catalogues
for the years 1876-1880:
Course
Classical Literature
Greek
Latin
German
Advanced Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
Rhetoric
Themes
German 4 *
German 5 *
French 4 *
History
Natural History 3 *
Natural History 8 *
German 8 *
Italian i *
Themes
Forensics
Logic
Metaphysics
Philosophy 6 *
Natural History i *
Natural History 3 *
FRESHMAN YEAR
Description
Greek and Latin literature
Composition and translation
Composition and translation
Composition and translation
Trigonometry, analytical geometry
Chamber's Matter and Motion,
Goodroe's Mechanics
Lectures; text, New Chemistry
SOPHOMORE YEAR
Hill's Principles of Rhetoric and
Punctuation, Abbott's How to
Write Clearly
Six required themes yearly
Scientific prose
Composition and exercises
French literature in the XVII
century
Anglo-American constitutional
history
Comparative anatomy and physi-
ology of vertebrates
Elementary botany; Gray's Struc-
tural and Systematic Botany
JUNIOR YEAR
Composition and translation;
Goethe
Composition and translation
Six themes
Four forensics
Jevon's Logic
Ferrier's Lectures on Greek
Philosophy
An introduction to political
economy
Geography, meteorology and
structural geology; Dana's Text
Book of Geology, Buchan's Intro-
ductory Textbook of Meteorology
Elementary zoology
Instructor Grade
Everett
White
Gould
Faulhaber
Cooke
Ware
Perry
Hodges
Bartlett
Jacquinot
Macrane
James
Goodale and
Farlow
Hedge
Bendelari
Perry
Palmer
Peabody
Palmer
Dunbar
Davis
Mark
77
58
73
9*
75
78
75
94
69
96
87
79
89
82
82
7«
60
85
87
89
92
97
at all homesick. I have been very much astonished at this, and also at my good
health. Excepting a little asthma in November, I have not been sick atall.
During the Spring I expect to do a good deal of collecting work with
Harry Minot and Fred Gardiner,2 both of whom have similar tastes to mine.
By the way, as the time when birds are beginning to come back is approach-
ing, I wish you would send on my gun, with all the cartridges you can find
and my various apparatus for cleaning, loading it etc. Also send on a dozen
glass jars, with their rubbers and stoppers (which you will find in my
museum) and a German Dictionary, if you have one. Our lessons will be
over by the twentieth of June, and then Harry Minot and I intend leaving
immediately for the Adirondacs, so as to get the birds in as good plumage as
possible, and in two or three weeks we will get down to Oyster Bay, where
I should like to have him spend a few days with us. He is a very quiet fellow
and would not be the least trouble for you can put him anywhere.
I am having a very nice time with my Sunday-School class, and like my
scholars very much, although I do not atall approve of the plan the school is
conducted on, which makes the poor little children stay all through the after-
noon service, so that they have to remain for an hour and a half, which is of
course an awful trial to them. My library has been the greatest possible
pleasure to me, as whenever I have any spare time I can immediately take
up a book. Aunt Annie's present, the "History of the Gvil War," is extremely
interesting.
Lately I have been round at the boys houses quite often, and have seen
a good deal of their home life; they have all been so kind that it makes it
very pleasant for me. I can't help being more and more struck by the fact
that if the parents are good and iwrc, the son generally does pretty fairly
too, although of course this does not always hold.
With best love to Bamie, Pussie, Aunt Annie and Uncle Jimmie, I am
Your Loving Son
Course
Italian 2*
Forensics
Political Economy 3
Natural History 4 *
Natural History 6 *
SENIOR YEAR
Description
Manzoni, Alfieri, Torquato Tasso
Four f orensics
Cavines' Principles of Political
Economy9 McLeod's Elements of
Banking, Bestiat's Harmonies Eco-
nomiques
Geology; lectures, laboratory,
Dana's Manual
Advanced zoology
Instructor
Nash and
Bendelari
Hill
Dunbar
Shaler
Faxon
Grade
70
65
9'
89
* Elective courses.
•Frederic Gardiner went into the Episcopalian ministry. He later became head-
master of Yeates Institute, a boys' preparatory school in Pennsylvania.
33 ' TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.°
Cambridge, March 27, 1877
Little Pet Pussie 95 per cent will help my average, you cunning pretty foolish
little puss. I want to pet you again awfully! My easy chair would just hold
myself and Pussie. I am very sorry you have not been well: it must have been
that luncheon party. By the way, give my love, or whatever is the proper
expression to Annie and Edith. In spite of my work I have had a very pleas-
ant time since I came back. It is a great pity that I shall have to miss all the
fun during the holidays.
Now for business. Tell Mother that as April ist is quarter day, when my
college bills come due, I will want at that time one hundred dollars ($100),
and that this must be sent to me immediately, or the college will collect on
my bond, which will be very disagreeable both for Mr Minot and myself.
Tell her this right away, Pussie, and see that the money is sent off as soon as
possible. I ought by rights to have three hundred, but I guess I can get along
till Father comes back without it. Your Loving Brother
34 • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR Robinson Mss.e
Forest Hills, Massachusetts, April 15, 1877
Darling Father, I am spending my Easter vacation with the Minots, who with
their usual kindness asked me to do so. I did not go home for I knew I would
never be able to study there. I have been working pretty steadily, having
finished during the last five days the first book of Horace, the sixth book of
Homer, and the Apology of Socrates. In the afternoon some of the boys usu-
ally came out to see me, and we spent that time in the open air, and on Satur-
day evening I went to a party, but during the rest of the time I have worked
pretty faithfully. I spent today, Sunday, with the Welds, and went to their
church where, although it was a Unitarian church, I heard a really remark-
ably good sermon about the attributes of a Christian. Minot Weld takes a
great interest in farming, and his livestock were really very interesting.
I have enjoyed all your letters very much, and my conscience reproaches
me greatly for not writing you before, but as you may imagine I have had to
study pretty hard to make up for lost time, and a letter with me is quite a
serious work. Your Loving Son
35 • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR CoivleS MSS.°
Cambridge, April 29, 1877
Darling Father I am ever so glad you enjoyed your southern trip so much.
I wish most sincerely you would leave off working as much as you do, for I
really think it hurts your health greatly. In this respect by the way I am all
right, except a slight cold. A couple of weeks ago one of my eyes gave me
a little trouble, but it seems all right now.
Yesterday the Princeton football men came on to play our team. We
beat, but the game was pretty close. Among the Princeton men who came on,
either to play or to see the game were a good many of my friends — Earl and
Cleave Dodge, «Momo» Pine, Harry Osborn, the Nicholls &C.1 The all
went away immediately after the game however so I was unable to do any-
thing for them. There were nearly two thousand spectators to the game. All
the male members of the Minot Family were there.
Keep me informed about Dr Ludlow. Your Loving Son
36 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.Q
Auburndale, Massachusetts, June 3, 1877
Sweet Pussie, I enjoyed your visit so much, and so did all of my friends (in-
cluding Ned Brooks).1 1 do'n't think I ever saw Edith looking prettier; every-
one, and especially Harry Chapin and Minot Weld admired her little Lady-
ship intensely, and she behaved as sweetly as she looked. Maud also was a
great success; I think she has remarkably good manners. Harry Jackson felt
very badly about having laughed so much and in explanation said "You see,
I felt so intimate that I forgot I did not know them well"! Both he and Harry
Shaw said they were so sorry not to be able to do anything for you, but
their families had moved out into the country, and so they were unable to do
anything at all. By the way, I today met out here (at Mrs Tudors where I
am passing Sunday) one of Johny Lamson's flames, a Miss Alice Smith, a
ladylike and quite a pretty girl.
I am so glad you liked my room, Pussie; next year I hope to have it still
prettier, when I have you all on again.
Now good by darling; I have enjoyed seeing sweet Pussie, darling ener-
getic Bumble, and big, goodnatured Father so much. Best love to Maud, and
when you write to Edith tell her I enjoyed her visit very much indeed. Your
Loving
37 • TO HENRY DAVIS MINOT RMA.
Oyster Bay, July n, 1877
Dear Hal, My movements during the past few days have been so hurried
that I have been unable to write you. I enjoyed myself very much in camp,
getting both deer and trout, and am now having a capital time at home. All
1 Of this group from Princeton, Cleveland H. Dodge and Moses Taylor Pyne were
to play important roles in the career of Woodrow Wilson, and Henry Fairfield
Osborn became a close friend of Roosevelt.
1 Edward Brooks became a Boston real-estate dealer.
28
the family by the way, send their regards, and wish me to state how sorry
they are you could not visit us.
I shot several cross bills in the woods. I saw, on my way to Plattsburg,
Guiriaca ludovociana and heard one whippoorwill. A wood cock was shot
near Paul Smiths; none of the inhabitants knew what it was, or had ever seen
another. The blackbirds we saw were not the Scolecophagus but the females
of Quisqualus purpureus. I found several colonies of this bird widely sepe-
rated from one another, and shot both male and female specimens. The
mourning warbler, a nighthawk and Canada jay are more common than I
had supposed. The Tetrao canadensis is quite plentiful and I found the
Herring Gull breeding on a rock in the middle of a small lake.
Remember me to your family and believe me Your Sincere Friend
38 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowIeS MSS?
Cambridge, October 14, 1877
Darling Baime, The presents for the Richardson family arrived in safety, as
the gun, clothes &c had done before; I shall keep them until Thanksgiving,
or possibly till Christmas. During the past week but little has happened out
of the ordinary Harvard routine. On Tuesday I went the Theatre with Minot
Weld and Arthur Hooper; the ktter's family have just returned to town,
and if the day were not so dismal looking I should go in to see them. George
Minot asked me to spend this Sunday with him, but unfortunately I was
unable to; Hal Minot (alias Jonas) also asked me out to see him.
One of my studies (French) is extremely difficult, but I get along pretty
fairly in the others, while my anatomical course is extremely interesting.1
This afternoon I start my Sunday school class, which I intend to keep till the
first of April, as I did last year; and I may possibly try a little mission work
this winter, although I will not be able to do very much of this.
Will Blodgett will be unable to spend Christmas with us, as his relations
have already "mortgaged" him for that time. He told me to say that he should
never forget your's and mother's kindness to him. Tell Father I am watching
the "Controllership" 2 movements with the greatest interest. Your Loving
Brother
1The instructor in Roosevelt's "anatomical course" was William James.
a Chester Alan Arthur, collector of the port, operated the New York Customs House
as an auxiliary to Senator Roscoe Conluing's New York political machine. An inves-
tigation of the Customs House, ordered by President Hayes, a friend of the merit
system, revealed that it served as a refuge for political workers and an instrument of
political activity. During the investigation Hayes forbade any further political activ-
ity by employees of the revenue service, but he could not remove Arthur because of
the provisions of the Tenure of Office Act of 1867. Instead the President in Novem-
ber 1877 nominated a new set of officers for the New York Customs House, selecting
Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., as collector of the port. Conkling, however, succeeded in
preventing the confirmation of the new appointees in the Senate. The fight over the
Customs House was a celebrated episode in the early struggle for civil service reform.
39 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT RoblTlSOTl MSS.Q
Cambridge, October 28, 1877
Sweet Pussie, Thank you ever so much, darling, for the three cunning little
books, which I am going to call my "Pussie Books." They were just what I
wanted. In answer to your question, I may say that it does not seem to make
the slightest difference to Brooks and Hooper that they have been dropped,
although the former is universally called "Freshie." My respect for the mental
qualities of my classmates has much increased lately, by the way, as they now
no longer seem to think it necessary to confine their conversation exclusively
to athletic subjects. I was especially struck by this the other night, when,
after a couple of hours spent in boxing and wrestling with Arthur Hooper
and Ralph Ellis,1 it was proposed to finish the evening by reading aloud from
Tennyson, and we became so interested in In Memoriam that it was past one
o'clock when we seperated.
Ask Father if he has renewed my subscription to the Tribune. If there
are any spare French or German dictionaries and grammars about I wish
you would send them to me.
Goodby, darling; love to all Your Loving Brother
40 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Cambridge, November 9, 1877
Darling Bwme, Let me thank you once again for the "Scotch Naturalist"; it
was just like my own, thoughtful Bye to send it to me. As I told Father last
time, it really makes me feel like a sneak when I think how little I do for any
of you. I had Harry Chapin in here the other day to look at the new book-
case (which makes the room just perfection) and after he had examined it
he exclaimed "Jove! Your family do act squarely by you!" And I most
heartily agree with him.
At present it looks as if Father would not get the collectorship: I am glad
on his account, but sorry for New York. Last Sunday I passed most pleas-
antly with the Minots, who are just as kind as they can be. I saw Margey
the other day; she a good deal sobered, and I think staying with the Lambs
will do her a great deal of good. Mrs Tudor wishes to know why you do
not write to her. Your Loving Brother
41 • TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, SENIOR R.M.A. MsS.°
Cambridge, December 8, 1877
Dearest Father, There have apparently been no new developments in the
collector-ship case; I am very much afraid that Conkling has won the day. I
noticed quite a sensible editorial on it in the Times of yesterday (Saturday).
1 Ralph Nicholson Ml is became a New York lawyer.
30
I really do not feel settled here now, as I shall so soon leave for New York,
and have so recently come from it. I am anticipating the most glorious fun
during the holidays, which, by the way, I intend to make the most of, for
the next two months will be tremendous work, both mentally and physically,
as I shall be preparing for the semiannuals and the athletic contests. I have
been invited to the Cambridge assemblies but shall not accept. Your Loving
Son
42 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.°
Cambridge, December 16, 1877
Darling Bamie, I am very uneasy about Father. Does the Doctor think it
anything serious? I think that a travelling trip would be the best thing for
him; he always has too much work on hand. Thank fortune, my own health
is excellent, and so, when I get home, I can with a clear conscience give him
a rowing up for not taking better care of himself. The trouble is the dear old
fellow never does think of himself in anything. We have been very fortu-
nate, Bamie, in having a father whom we can love and respect more than any
other man in the world.
I got 90 in two other examinations recently — Rhetoric and History. I
shall probably reach New York Friday morning. Remember me to Miss
Jennie Hooper.1 Your Loving Brother
43 • TO HENRY DAVIS MINOT R.M.A. AdSS.Q
New York, February 20, 1878
Dear Old Hal, Many, many thanks both to you and Mrs. Howe, but I think
I should prefer to go to my own room, which seems almost like home to me.1
I shall return next Saturday evening. Dear old boy, your sweet letter cheered
us up a great deal. As yet it is almost impossible to realize I shall never see
Father again; these last few days seem like a hideous dream. Father had
always been so much with me that it seems as if part of my life had been
taken away; but it is much worse for Mother and my sisters. After all, it is
a purely selfish sorrow, for it was best that Father's terrible sufferings should
end. Mother sends her best love, and so does my sister. Your Loving Friend
44 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Cambridge, February 28, 1878
Darling Muffle, I received your sweet litde note day before yesterday. I had
one of my semiannual examinations on Tuesday, and passed it very success-
1 Jane Hooper, a sister of Arthur Hooper, later married Edward G. Gardiner.
1 Theodore Roosevelt, Senior, had died on February 9, 1878.
3'
fully, getting 91 per cent. All of the boys have been very kind and consider-
ate; Harry Shaw has just paid me a really sweet visit. It is needless to say that
old Hal Minot has acted like a trump. Minot Weld and Arthur Hooper each
wanted me to spend Sunday with him, but I preferred not to go. Charley
Washburne1 has been very sympathetic also.
Of course I am now regularly at work again, and do not have very much
time to think; but I do look forward to and enjoy the home letters so much!
It is lovely to see how widely known and respected my dear Father was. He
is to me such a living memory that I almost feel as if he were present with
me. Your Loving Son
45 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT RoblTlSOn MSS.°
Cambridge, March 3, 1878
My own, darling, sweet, little treasure of a Pussie, I have just loved your two
little letters. Oh, I have so longed to pet Pussie, at times during the last few
days! I do hope you and Muffie are enjoying yourselves. Dear little one, you
can hardly know what an inestimable blessing to a fellow it is to have such
a home as I have. Even now that our dear father has been taken away, it is
such great and unmixed pleasure to look forward to a visit home; and indeed
he has only "gone before," and oh! what loving, living memories he has left
behind him. I can feel his presence sometimes when I am sitting alone in the
evening; I have not felt nearly as sad as I expected to, although of course
there are every now and then very bitter moments. I am going to bring home
some of his sweet letters to show you; I should always keep them, if merely
as talismans against evil.
Harry Minot has been too sweet for anything; all the boys have been
very kind, expecially Minot, Arthur, and the three Harrys — Chapin, Jack-
son, and Shaw.
Kiss little Muffie for me, and give my best love to Aunt Susie, Uncle Hill
and Jack. Tell the latter I am anticipating a month of much happiness with
him next summer, among the wilds of O. B. Your Loving
46 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Cambridge, March 17, 1878
Darling Bye, I so long to be with you, my own precious sister, to try to
comfort you; I know only too well the dull, heavy pain you suffer, and I
know too that it is even harder for you than for the rest of us. It has been
easier for me to bear than for the rest of you, for here I live in a different
world, and a world where I am occupied busily all the time. There is much
1 Charles Grenfill Washburn, a classmate who maintained a lifelong friendship with
Roosevelt, became a lawyer in Worcester, Massachusetts, served several years in the
state legislature. He was later a Republican member of Congress, 1906-1911.
32
Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.
Martha Bulloch Roosevelt
Roosevelt's birthplace, No. 28 East Twentieth Street
Theodore Roosevelt, eighteen months
Roosevelt, age seven
I wish to talk to you about, dearest, for now that Father is gone you will have
to advise me in many things. Oh, what lovely memories he has left behind!
Sometimes it seems as though it can not be possible he has passed away; and
indeed out of our lives he never will pass.
Mr Fred Elliott's brother has asked me to dinner and I suppose I shall
have to go, but it will be very disagreable,
Goodbye, my own sweet sister, Your Loving Brother
47-TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CowleS
Cambridge, March 24, 1878
Darling Motherling, I am writing to you today before I go to church; it is
a lovely mild morning outside, but not very clear. We have had very bad
weather lately, and I have been more fortunate than most of the boys in
escaping without catching cold. I have just been looking over a letter of my
dear Father's in which he wrote me "Take care of your morals first, your
health next and finally your studies." I do not think I ever could do anything
wrong while I have his letters; but it seems very sad never to write to him.
I had a three hour examination yesterday; of course I do not yet know
what mark I got in it. I shall be home two weeks from next Friday. Give my
best love to Bamie and Pussie. Your Loving Son
P.S. This bill is all right; I have already paid my bill, which was different
This was your Xmas present to me
48'TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT Robinson MSS.°
Cambridge, October 8, 1878
Darling, Beloved, Little Motherling, I have just loved your dear, funny
pathetic little letter; and I am now going to write you the longest letter I
ever write — and if it is still rather short, you must recollect that it takes
Teddy boy a long time to write.
I have enjoyed Charlie's being here extremely, and I think I have been
of some service to him. We always go to prayers together. For his own sake
I have not been much with him in the daytime, after the first one or two
days; but every evening we spend a good part of the time together, in my
room or his. His room, by the way, is very homelike and tasteful; but of
course it is not yet as cosy as mine is. He is just the same honest, good old
fellow as ever, and, unless I am very much mistaken, is going to make a
thorough success in every way of college.
My studies do not come very well this year, as I have to work nearly as
hard on Saturday as on any other day — that is, seven or eight hours. Some
of them are extremely interesting, however; especially Political Economy and
Metaphysics. These are both rather hard, requiring a good deal of work, but
they are even more interesting than my Natural History courses; and all the
33
more so, from the fact that I radically disagree on many points with the men
whose books we are reading (Mill and Ferrier). One of my zoological courses
is rather dry; but the other I like very much, though it necessitates ten or
twelve hours work a week. My German is not very interesting, but I expect
my Italian will be when I get farther on.
For exercise I have hitherto relied chiefly on walking, but today I have
regularly begun sparring. I have practised a good deal with my rifle, walking
to and from the range which is nearly three miles off; my scores have been
fair, although not very good. Funnily enough, I have enjoyed quite a burst
of popularity since I came back, having been elected into several different
clubs.
My own friends have as usual been perfect trumps, and I have been asked
to spend Sunday with at least half a dozen of them. Next Saturday Dick
Saltonstall is going to drive me over in his tilbury to call on Miss Bessie
Whitney; but I shall have to come back to Cambridge to spend Sunday,
owing to several reasons — Sunday school, etc. But I shall probably spend
the following Sunday with him and the Sunday after that I shall probably be
with you all.
I indulged in a luxury the other day, buying the "Library of British
Poets," and I like my purchase very much; but I have been so busy that I
have hardly had time to read it yet. I shall really have to have a new book-
case, for I have nowhere to put all my books. I have not seen Miss Jeannie
Hooper yet, but I am going to call on her tomorrow or the day after. We
have had quite a cold snap, and I have put on my winter flannels, but I may
have to take them off soon, if this weather continues. Have my gun sent in
town and cleaned; do'n't take the cartridges in yet. With best love to all I
am Your Loving Son
49 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS
Cambridge, October 13, 1878
Darling Bysie, Did little Muffie accept my eight page letter as atonement for
my previous misdeeds of omission in the way of writing? I hope so. I walked
in town day before yesterday to call on Miss Jeannie Hooper, but unfor-
tunately she was out so I had to console myself with a game of billiards with
old Arthur instead. I enjoy having Charley Dickey underneath me very
much; I almost every evening spend about an hour with him, sitting and
talking over the day. It seems funny to think that now over half my college
career is done; I have enjoyed it extremely so far — although not quite as
much as I do home. I must try and see Mr. Choate1 this year; it is time for
me to think what I shall do when I leave college. Your Loving Brother
1 Joseph Hodges Choate, lawyer and diplomat, a member of the firm of Evarts,
Southmayd and Choate, an active Republican, ambassador to Britain, 1899-1905.
34
50 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, November 10, 1878
Darling Bysie, I am spending Sunday with Minot Weld, and, it is needless
to say, am having a capital time. You do not know how highly they all think
of you; Mr. Weld, who is generally rather an impassive old gentleman, said
today that he had never met anyone whom he liked so much on so short an
acquaintance. You dear, sweet sister, I really owe very much of my pleasure
in college to you, for had it not been for your knowing so many Bostonians
I should not have had any of the "social life" (ahem! ) that I have so much
enjoyed.
I was dumbfounded at the news of Jack's engagement;1 the dear old boy
wrote me a letter of incoherent ecstacy the other day, throw which I could
only dimly discern the outlines of two figures — Miss Vance and yourself,
each portrayed as a rather superior sort of angel — not a mere common
angel, but a regular first class one. Seriously, the old fellow was most touch-
ing and has evidently been most deeply affected by your kindness. He seems
head over ears in love; and at any rate it is much better than it might have
been.
As I suppose Nell and Mother told you, I went into the Porcellian dub
formally. Nell can describe what it looks like to you. Of course, I am de-
lighted to be in, and have great fun up there; there is a billiard table, magnifi-
cent library, punch-room &c, and my best friends are in it.
Give my best love to Muffie and Nell, and tell them I did enjoy their
visit so much. Your Loving Brother
51 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.°
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, November 10, 1878
Sweet Pussiey I am spending Sunday with Minot Weld; it is a perfectly
beautiful day, and we have just walked home from church with Miss Wheel-
right and Miss Long. This afternoon, immediately after dinner, Minot and
I are going to drive over to Dick Saltonstalls, where we shall go out walking
with Miss Rose Saltonstall and Miss Alice Lee1 and drive home by moon-
light after tea.
I have begun my studying fairly now, and shall keep it up till Christmass;
I am afraid I shall not be able to come home for Thanksgiving. I really have
my hands full, especially now that my political economy professor wishes
1 John THlig Roosevelt married Nannie Vance in 1879.
1 Alice Hathaway Lee, daughter of George Cabot Lee of Chestnut Hill, first wife of
Theodore Roosevelt.
35
me to start a finance club,2 which will be very interesting indeed and will do
us all a great deal of good, but which will also take up a great deal of time.
Of course I spend a good deal of my spare time up in the Porcellian Club,
which is great fun. Night before last Harry Shaw and I gave a little supper
up there, the chief items on the bill of fare being partridges and burgundy,
— I confining myself to the partridges.
I am going to cut Sunday School today, for the second time this year;
but when the weather is so beautiful as this I like every now and then to
spend Sunday with a friend. Harry Chapin is going to take my class for
today. Remember me to Annie and Fanny, and give my love to Edith — if
she's in a good humour; otherwise my respectful regards. If she seems par-
ticularly good tempered tell her that I hope that when I see her at Xmas it
will not be on what you might call one of her off days.
Good bye, sweet one. Your Loving
52 • TO ALICE HATHAWAY LEE RM.A. MsS.°
Cambridge, December 6, 1878
Dear Alice, I have been anxiously expecting a letter from you and Rose for
the last two or three days; but none has become. You must not forget our
tintype spree; I have been dextrously avoiding forming any engagements for
Saturday. I send this by Minot Weld — who knows nothing of the contents,
whatever he may say. Tell Rose that I never passed a pleasanter Thanksgiv-
ing than at her house.
Judging from the accounts I have received the new dress for the party
at New Bedford must have been a complete success. Your Fellow-conspirator
53 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.Q
Cambridge, February 3, 1879
Sweet Pussie^ I spent most of last week studying, but on Friday afternoon
took a holiday and went out to Chestnut Hill for a coasting party. Besides
Alice and Rose there were Miss Bessie Whitney, Miss Nana Rotch (whose
sister Bamie knows) Miss Lulu Lane, Harry Shaw, Jack Tebbets,1 Minot
Weld, Dick Saltonstall and myself. We coasted on "torborgans"; they are
a kind of sled with out runners, going on the crust of the snow; each in fact
is a long thin board with the front curled up. They went like the wind, much
• The Finance Club, organized by a group of undergraduates under the direction of
Professor Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin, met periodically to hear papers on current eco-
nomic problems. Albert Bushnell Hart, Josiah Quincy, Charles G. Washburn, Robert
Bacon, and Roosevelt were among the members. Among the speakers invited to
address the club were William Graham Sumner, Francis A. Walker, Henry George,
and Abram S. Hewitt. On one occasion Roosevelt and Bacon presented a joint
paper on taxation.
1 John Sever Tebbets later worked for various railroad companies, then took charge
of a mine owned by the Westinghouse Company in Arizona.
faster than the double runners we had been on the Saturday before. I rarely
passed a pleasanter afternoon.
We were to have had a moonlight coasting party last Tuesday, but a
thaw prevented us. Remember me to Fan, Edith and Annie. Goodbye, fussie
54 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT RobinSOn MSS.°
Cambridge, March 16, 1879
Darling Muffie, I got home this morning at 1 1 o'clock, too late for church,
the cars being delayed six hours; and have just returned from Sunday School.
How did darling Bysie enjoy her trip to Boston? The only thing I minded
was missing her. I never have passed a pleasanter two weeks than those just
gone by; I enjoyed every moment. The first two or three days I had asthma,
but, funnily enough, this left me entirely as soon as I went into camp. The
thermometer was below zero pretty often, but I was not bothered by the
cold atall, except one night when I camped out on the trail of a caribou
(which we followed two days without getting more than a glimpse of the
animal). Out in the opens when there was any wind it was very disagreable
but in the woods the wind never blows and as long as we were moving about
it made little difference how low the temperature was, but sitting still for
lunch we felt it immediately. I learned how to manage snowshoes very
quickly, and enjoyed going on them greatly. I have never seen a grander or
more beautiful sight than the northern woods in winter. The evergreens
laden with snow make the most beautiful contrast of green and white, and
when it freezes after a rain all the trees look as though they were made of
crystal. The snow under foot being about three feet deep, and drifting to
twice that depth in places, completely changes the aspect of things. I visited
two lumber camps, staying at one four days; it was great fun to see such a
perfectly unique type of life. I shot a buck, a coon and some rabbits and
partridges and trapped a lynx and a fox — so my trip was a success in every
way.
There seems to be a general feeling among the family that I have not
done my duty in writing of late, which makes me think you did not get
some I sent. Did Elliott get the three sheet letter I sent him about six weeks
ago? It was the longest letter I ever wrote.
Love to the trio, and especially to my own sweet Motherling herself.
Your Loving Son
55 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.°
Cambridge, March 23, 1879
Darling Pussie, I shall be with you all a week from Tuesday, or possibly
Wednesday — for I may give a lunch in my rooms to some of my Boston
friends on the first day of the vacation.
37
As I wrote Elliott, I only came out second best in the sparring contest,
but I did not care very much, for I have had uncommonly good luck in
pretty much everthing this year, from studies to societies.
I enjoyed my trip to Maine very much indeed. Of course I fell behind
hand in my studies, but by working pretty hard the last week I succeeded
in pretty nearly catching up. Your Loving
56 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mssf
Cambridge, March 28, 1879
Wee Fussy y I came across such a funny, wee book of poetry1 today, and I
send it to a wee, funny Kitty Coo, with Teddy's best love.
57 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cobles
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, April 20, 1879
Darling Bysie, I had two examinations last week, and so studied pretty
hard till Friday afternoon, when I came over here with Dick. To day we
went to Church in the morning. Harry Shaw came over in the afternoon,
and Rose and he, and Alice and I took a long walk. I like the two girls
more and more every day — especially pretty Alice. All the family are just
lovely to me; Dick says he never in his life had such a nice time as he had
in New York. I see Edith won a prize for answering the World questions;
congratulate her for me. Goodbye, Darling Your Loving Brother
58 • TO MARTHA BTJLLOCH ROOSEVELT CoivleS MsS.°
Cambridge, April 27, 1879
Darling Little Pet, I do hope my sweet one is getting better. Do take care
of yourself Muffie darling, and avoid every kind of exposure.
Can you tell me what suits of winter clothing I have in New York? I
have one rough suit for ordinary war, and I think I must have a blue diag-
onal cut-away coat and vest — at least I have not got it here.
Dick and Minot wish particularly to be remembered. All of Dick's
family were delighted with the two girls' notes — especially Corinne's. Mr.
Saltonstall said it showed that she must be such a sweet, innocent little thing.
Dear, simple minded old gentleman!
In the photograph, tell Corinne the "handsome boy" is Gorham Peters;
Charley Washburn is standing beside me and I am resting my hand on
Charley Ware's shoulder.1 The latter is captain of our class crew and is a per-
fect old trump. He is one of the quietest, most silent men I have ever met.
1 Charles Fletcher Lummis, Birch Bark Poems.
1 Charles Ware became a doctor in Brooklyn, New York.
My horse is in beautiful trim, except that he is not filled out yet, and
his winter coat makes him look shaggy. I have ridden him every day last
week, and of course my rides ended up quite often at Chestnut Hill. Last
Thursday, in fact, I spent the whole day over there, riding over in the morn-
ing and coming back in the evening. In the afternoon I took the two girls
out driving. Friday I drove over with Minot Weld to Jamaica Plains where
I spent Saturday. We returned to Cambridge in the evening for a Porcellian
dinner, of which I enclose you the menu. If our Loving Son
59 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss*
Cambridge, May 5, 1879
Darling Ptissie, Saturday morning I rode over (very swell, with hunting
crop and beaver) to Chestnut Hill, where I took lunch with the Lees. In
the afternoon I drove Alice and Rose in to Boston, to call on the Rotches.
About half past four George Minot appeared at the Lees, also on horse-
back, and I rode over with him to Forrest Hills where I passed the night, I
walked home from church with a rather pretty Miss Bacon,1 Bob's cousin,
and immediately after midday dinner I rode back to Chestnut Hill. Harry
Shaw and Van Rensaeler2 had driven out there in the formers buggy, and
we went out walking with Miss Rosy Lee,8 Miss Alice and Miss Rose. Alice
and I did not get back till nearly six. I took tea with the Lees and did not
get back to Cambridge till about ten o'clock.
Give my best love to Muffie. Your Loving
60 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Cambridge, May 12, 1879
Darling Mitffie, I have just returned from passing Sunday with the Salton-
stalls; and of course have had a lovely time. I went out there Saturday morn-
ing, and that afternoon we all went to a meet of the Suffolk bicycle club,
where we saw an immense number of people we knew — among them Miss
Nora Coolidge and her fiang6e, Fred Sears.
Yesterday after Church we went out driving and walking; and in the
evening called on the Lowells, where the two Miss Rotches were passing
Sunday.
Last Thursday I spent the day at Milton, with the Whitneys, riding
over in the morning and back in the evening. Miss Bessie Whitney is a very
sweet girl, and I enjoyed myself very much. Wednsday I went out riding
with Rose Saltonstall. Friday afternoon I spent at the Bacons, playing lawn
1 Alice Bacon, who later married William Sturgis Hooper Lothrop.
•William Bayard Van Rensselaer, a fellow member or the Porcellian Gub, became
a lawyer in Albany. He married Louisa Greenough Lane.
•Rose Lee was a sister of Alice Lee; she later married Reginald Gray.
39
tennis with Miss Julia; I rode back in time to go in and dine with the
Tudors.
Give best love to Bysie, Pussie & Nell. Your Loving Son
P.S. Charley Dickey is in the first ten of the Institute
6 1 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mssf
Cambridge, May 20, 1879
Darling Pzissie, I have just returned from passing Sunday with the Whit-
neys, at Milton, where I enjoyed myself very much. Miss Bessie is a singu-
larly sweet, pretty girl and Ell is one of the best fellows I know.
Can't you and Bamie and Nell (also Aunt Annie & of course Mother, if
possible) come on to spend a few days here about Class Day? I think I
could make you have quite a good time and I want you particularly to know
some of my girl friends now. They are a very sweet set of girls; and I
really now know them better than I do most of my former New York
friends — Rose and Alice in fact I know better than I do any New York
girls. I shall feel quite like a Bostonian before I leave Harvard.
Be sure and come on, Pussie. Your Loving
62 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.Q
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, August 22, 1879
Darling Pussie> It is just after breakfast, and I am writing in Mrs. Lee's
parlour. I am going to Maine this evening, which shows the greatest reso-
lution on my part, for it has been awfully hard to resist going down to
the Glades for a few days. To tell the truth the only reason I resisted was
because it was perfectly impossible to communicate with Seawall,1 the tele-
graph not going to Island Falls. Even as it was, Alice was so bewitchingly
pretty, and the Saltonstalls were so very cordial that I came near going in
spite of everything.
Tuesday evening I dined at the University Club with Robinson,2 Had-
don, Stratton and Sedgwick, and passed a very jolly evening, going round
to the Knickerbocker with Haddon afterwards. Wednsday afternoon I
reached Chestnut Hill, and really felt almost as if I had come back to Oys-
ter Bay, Dick greeted me so heartily. We dined with Mrs. Lee, and drove
over to Milton to take tea at the Whitneys, where Rosy, Alice and Rose
were staying. I had brought Rose a little gold "fichu" (I do'n't know how
to spell it) pin. Miss Bessie was looking very well; and so were the Chest-
nut Hillers. The three girls send their best love, and were perfectly de-
lighted with the Xmas trip. By the way, could'n't you manage to make
1 William Wingate Sewall, a Maine hunter who later became Roosevelt's guide.
"Douglas Robinson, a New York real-estate broker. He later married Corinne
Roosevelt.
40
room for Bessie Whitney too? That would make four girls, instead of three,
but they would be perfectly delighted to sleep two in the same room. If
you could manage it, I should like it very much, for I should like to repay
some of the kindness I have received from the Whitneys; next to the Sal-
tonstalls they are the most hospitable people I have ever met.
Yesterday Dick and I drove over about 9 a. m. to the picnic, and drove
back after midnight. Of course I had a lovely time. We drove over to the
beach and went out sailing; took our dinner in the open air; played lawn
tennis; rambled — two by two — through the beautiful woods; and had a
country dance in the barn. As I said before it really needed the strongest
will power to keep from being persuaded to go down to the Glades. To
day I drive over to Cambridge, and shall lunch with Mrs. Lee.
For my birthday, among the books I most want are complete editions
of the works of Prescott, Motley and Carlyle.
Goodbye, darling; give my best love to my beloved little Motherling,
my sister with the big blue eyes, and to dear old Nellie boy. Your Loving
63 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CO'WleS
Cambridge, September 29, 1879
Darling Bysie, I have been in Cambridge four days now, and the senior year
has opened most auspiciously. The cart and horse, with whip, rug &c, came
to hand in fine condition; and I really think I have as swell a turnout as any
man. I am perfectly delighted with it. It will be the greatest pleasure to me
all this winter. The horse goes beautifully, very much better than I had
any expectation that he would. He hardly breaks atall; in fact never, unless
he is frightened by a locomotive or something.
I spent Sunday at the Saltonstalls', who were just too sweet to me for
anything. There I met Mr. and Mrs. Peabody, who invited me down to
visit them.
Dear old Charles Dickey has just dropped in to say good night, so no
more at present from Your Loving Brother
64 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS M.SS?
Cambridge, October 13, 1879
Darling Bysie, I shall be in New York a week from Saturday, and shall come
out to Oyster Bay the same afternoon, to stay a week. This year I expect to
be able to get to New York at Thanksgiving also.
I am very curious to see how the cup I am having made for the Pore.
will turn out; if it is half as great a success as my other extravagance for
this year — my cart — I shall be more than contented.
My studies have so far been tolerably difficult, but interesting. The other
day I found out my average for the three years — 82%. I stand i9th in the
41
class, which began with 230 fellows. Only one gentleman stands ahead of
me.
Best love to Muffie Goodbye, Your Loving
65'TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CoivleS MsS.°
Cambridge, October 20, 1879
Darling Motherling, I have just returned from spending Sunday with the
Guilds, cousins of Harry Shaw, who live out at Forrest Hill near the Minots.
I drove over there in my cart, and the ride home this morning was delicious.
Yesterday (Sunday) Harry Guild x and I drove over to the Whitneys to take
tea.
Last Monday I drove Jack Tebbets over to call on the Miss Bacons, who
are very nice girls. Wednsday I dined at the Lees, and spent the loveliest
kind of an evening with Rosy, Alice and Rose. The two girls must come
on to Boston next month if only to see Chestnut Hill; and, by Jove, I shall
be awfully disappointed if they do'n't like it. Mamie Saltonstalls birthday was
on Friday; I gave her a small silver fan-chain. Saturday I spent all the morn-
ing playing tennis with the two Miss Lanes; I forgot to say that on Thurs-
day they took Dick and myself to call on the Chinese professor. We had
a most absurd visit.
This afternoon I am going to drive Van Rennsaeler over to Chestnut Hill;
to morrow he and I take tea and spend the evening at the Lanes. Wednsday
Harry Shaw and I give a small opera party to Mr. and Mrs. Saltonstall, Rose
and Alice. Thursday six of us — Harry Shaw, Jack Tebbets, Minot Weld,
Dick Saltonstall, Harry Chapin and myself — are going to take a four in
hand and drive up to Frank Codman's farm,2 where we will spend the day,
shooting glass balls &c. Friday evening I start for New York.
So you see I have a good deal on hand; and when you add on my
studying and my society work you can very well imagine that I do not
have much spare time. I only hope I shall enjoy myself the rest of the year
as much as I have so far.
Best love to all, Your Loving Son
66 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT R.M.A. MSS.Q
Cambridge, January 1 1, 1880
Darling Muffle, Please send my silk hat on at once; why has it not come
before? Also send my rubbers on.
I have fairly started work again (getting "very good" in another hour
1 Henry Eliot Guild, a nephew of Charles W. Eliot, and one of the most talented of
Roosevelt's classmates.
•Francis Codman was for two years in Roosevelt's class at Harvard. He then became
manager of the Codman farm at Lincoln, Massachusetts.
42
examination) ; and I have been going out a good deal too — in fact to four
parties last week. Today I am going to drive over to Chestnut Hill to see
the girls and talk over the New York trip.
A good deal to my amusement and rather to my disgust I have been
requested to resign my Sunday School Class unless I would join the Episco-
palian Church! This I refused to do, and so had to leave. I told the clergy-
man I thought him rather narrow minded; especially as I had had my class
for three years and a half, and as even he said it was the only boy's class
in the school where the attendance was at all regular. So now I have my
afternoons to myself.
Best love to all four Loving Son
67 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT
Cambridge, February 8, 1880
Darling Muffie, It has been ever so kind of you to write me so often. I am
very glad that you saw Mr. Saltonstall and that he cheered you up. Really
you mustn't feel melancholy, sweet Motherling; I shall only love you all
the more.
I finished my last examination yesterday; it was rather tough on my
studies to bring my love affair to a d&noument in the midst of the semian-
nuals. I only saw Alice twice last week — not counting parties. I spent
Tuesday there and dined at the Saltonstalls on Friday. I do'n't know when
I shall see her again; not for several days.
My ring arrived safely. Write to Mrs. Lee yourself to tell her the day
you will dine there; I shall not see her soon. I wrote Mr. Roosevelt, to the
Union dub. Your Loving Son
68 • TO HENRY DAVIS MINOT R.M.A. MsS.°
Cambridge, February 13, 1880
Deal Hal, I write to you to announce my engagement to Miss Alice Lee;
but do not speak of it till Monday. I have been in love with her for nearly
two years now; and have made everything subordinate to winning her; so
you can perhaps understand a change in my ideas as regards science &c.
Your Aff Friend
69 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CotuleS
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, March i, 1880
Darling Bysie, I heard from two examinations thus far, and did very well
in both — 94 & 98. My other two will be worse. (All the family are in the
room and are vociferously sending love; so consider it sent).
43
Aunt Annie has just written an invitation to Rose and Rosie, but they
can't accept; entre nous, I am very glad of it, as I would rather have pretty
Sunshine alone. My vacation begins Apr yth (Fast-day is the 8th, is it not?)
and so we will come on that day.
I am delighted to say that Alice wishes to get married next Autumn; I
have not approached Mr. and Mrs. Lee on the subject yet, but I think there
will a battle royal, in which I shall probably get worsted. I most sincerely
wish I had you here to assist me.
I am leading the very happiest life a mortal ever led, with my sweet
darling; it is awfully hard to study. Your Loving Brother
70-10 CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss?
Cambridge, March 8, 1880
Darling Pussie, I passed the last week very much as usual — two days out
of three over at Chestnut Hill in the afternoon or evening. It is awfully hard
to study; when I get over to Chestnut Hill I am apt to spend the night and
then I do'n't want to return to Cambridge next day. After a long, but
very peacable argument with Mr. and Mrs. Lee I finally carried the day,
and succeeded in getting their consent to my being married next Fall —
either late in October or early in November. It will be very much pleasanter
to be settled. I am awfully glad Mother wants us to stay the first winter with
her; it is awfully sweet of her; Alice will find it very much pleasanter. In-
deed I do'n't think Mr. Lee would have consented to our marraige so soon
on other terms. I think Bamies words had a good deal of weight with Mrs.
Lee. Charley A. has just written me a very nice and useful letter. Your
Loving Brother
7 1 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.°
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, March 1 1, 1880
Darling Muffle, As I wrote Bysie all about our visit in April and marraige
next October, I shall pass these topics by.
My spread is now engrossing much of my attention; I wish to send
invitations to all my friends and acquaintances in New York; so could'n't
you send me on a visiting list of all the people I know or ought to know?
I want to include everybody, so as to rub up their memories about the
existence of a man named Theodore Roosevelt, who is going to bring a
pretty Boston wife back to New York next winter.
Air. Saltonstalls enthusiasm over the family knows no bounds. I am so
glad you like my future relations. Your Loving Son
44
72 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.°
Cambridge, April 27, 1880
Darling Pussie, I have just returned from Chestnut Hill, where I have been
since Thursday (though I came back to Cambridge on Friday to study).
I of course had the most absolutely perfect time imaginable. Every after-
noon I took pretty Birdie out for a long drive of two or three hours; she
did look too bewitching for anything, perched up in the cart, while Light-
foot bowled us along famously. The country is looking beautifully, and we
explored all kinds of little country roads. In the morning I generally played
lawn tennis or walked with her, and then while she sewed I read Prescott's
Conquest of Peru aloud. In the evening we played whist, and listened to
the girls play on the piano; and I generally managed to get an hour off by
myself, with my sweet, laughing, teasing little queen. She is just the sweet-
est, prettiest sunniest little darling that ever lived, and with all her laugh-
ing, teasing ways, she is as loving and tender as she can be. I do'n't think
that any man was ever so happy as I have been.
Give my best love to all. I have two examinations this week, and so shall
not go to Chestnut Hill till they are over. Your Loving Brother
73 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.°
Schooner Head, Maine, July 24, 1880
Darling Pussie, You must have had a lovely time up at Stockbridge. Tennis,
rowing, walking, tete-a-tete drives — oh, flirtatious generation! How is
Wuggles? * I do'n't intend anything disrespectful by the name; if you would
rather, I'll call him Crusoes. Naughty, purry, flirty mew-cat.
I had a very pleasant call on Lizzie Moran yesterday; she looked very
pretty, and as funnily embarrassed as ever. I also called on La Belle Murray;
but she was out. How does it happen that bright and rather bad Maria Pot-
ter has such a dear, good, oyster-like sister as Grace? I'm very fond of her
but she's about as intellectual as a calf.
Today I am in the house, being rather laid up by a touch of cholera
morbus. Very embarrassing for a lover, is'n't it? So unromantic, you know;
suggestive of too much unripe fruit. I've had capital care taken off me, by
dear old whacky Dick, and especially by Jack. The latter — great, rough,
sturdy fellow — has been just as kind, thoughtful, considerate, and at the
same time firm as — well, as Bamie; I can't think of any other simile that
would convey such high praise. Although in bachelors hall, I am as comfort-
able as if in my own home.
I have not seen much of my sweet, dainty, pretty darling; but when I
move to Bar Harbour next week I shall be with her all the time. Best love
to Nell and little Muffie. Your Loving
Jack & Dick send "respects."
1 Douglas Robinson.
45
74 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cowles
Wilcoxes Farm, Illinois, August 22, 1880
Darling Bysie, After spending a day in Chicagoe we decided to come out
here to a farm house and stay ten days and then to make a four weeks trip
through Iowa and Minnesota, not getting back to New York till about Oct.
ist, when I shall go straight on to Chestnut Hill. For the present send any
letters to Dr. R. N. Isham, 47 Clark St., Chicago. If any letters come to me
from Cambridge open them, as I have written about my missing clock and
pictures.
We have had three days good shooting, and I feel twice the man for it
already. As today is Sunday we are lying off, and, there not being any
church near us, have been writing letters, reading &c. The farm people are
pretty rough, but I like them very much; like all rural Americans they are
intensely independent; and indeed I do'n't wonder at their thinkking us their
equals, for we are dressed about as badly as mortals could be, with our
cropped heads, unshaven faces, dirty gray shirts, still dirtier yellow trow-
sers and cowhide boots; moreover we can shoot as well as they can (or at
least Elliott can) and can stand as much fatigue. I enjoy being with the old
boy very much; we care to do exactly the same things. The flies here are
a perfect plague of Egypt; and things are not very clean; in fact the reverse;
but we are having a lovely time. Your Loving Brother
75 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.°
Chicago, September 12, 1880
Darling Pussie, We have come back here after a weeks hunting in Iowa.
Elliott revels in the change to civilization — and epicurean pleasures. As soon
as we got here he took some ale to get the dust out of his throat; then a
milkpunch because he was thirsty; a mint julep because it was hot; a brandy
smash "to keep the cold out of his stomach"; and then sherry and bitters
to give him an appetite. He took a very simple dinner — soup, fish, salmi
de grouse, sweetbread, mutton, venison, corn, maccaroni, various vegeta-
bles and some puddings and pies, together with beer, later claret and in the
evening shandigaff. I confined myself to roast beef and potatoes; when I
took a second help he marvelled at my appetite — and at bed time won-
dered why in thunder he felt "stuffy" and 7 did'n't. The good living also
reached his brain, and he tried to lure me into a discussion about the in-
tellectual development of the Hindoos, coupled with some rather discur-
sive and scarcely logical digressions about the Infinity of the Infinate, the
Sunday School system and the planet Mars — together with some irrelevant
remarks about Texan "Jack Rabbits" which are apparently about as large
as good sized cows. Elliott says that these remarks are incorrect and ma-
levolent; but I say they pay him off for his last letter about my eating
manners.
46
We have had very good fun so far, in spite of a succession of untoward
accidents and delays. I broke both my guns, Elliott dented his, and the
shooting was not as good as we had expected; I got bitten by a snake and
chucked headforemost out of the wagon. Your Seedy Brother
76 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS?
Oyster Bay, October 31, 1880
Darling Little Muffle, I have been living in a perfect dream of delight.1
The house is just perfection; Kate cooks deliciously, and Mary Ann is ex-
actly the servant for us; and Davis does his part beautifully too, always
sending in his respects in the morning to "the good lady" as he styles Alice.
We breakfast at ten, dine at two, and take tea at seven; thanks to Bysies
thoughtfulness Alice does not have to order any meals. In the morning we
go out driving in the buggy, behind Lightfoot, who is in splendid trim. In
the afternoon we play tennis or walk in Fleets woods. In the evening I read
aloud — Pickwick Papers, Quentin Durward or Keats poems. We are hav-
ing an ideal honeymoon; and the dear little wife can rest all she wants to,
and is the sweetest little dor-mouse that ever lived. The pretty darling
sends her wannest love to you, Bysie, Pussie and Nell. Ever Your Loving
Son
77 • TO ROSE LEE R.M.A. Mss.°
Cork, May 22, 1881
Dear little Rosy, We had a beautiful passage; very nearly as gay as a funeral.
If ever a person heartily enjoyed a sea trip, Alice did. She enjoyed it so
much that she stayed in bed about all the time; the stewardess and myself
being her devoted attendants. I fed her at every blessed meal she ate; and
held her head when, about 20 minutes kter, the meal came gallopping up
into the outer world again. I only rebelled once; that was when she requested
me to wear a mustard plaster first, to see if it hurt. About every half hour
during the night I turned out to superindent matters while Alice went
through a kind of stomachic earthquake. After each one of these internal
convulsions Alice would conclude she was going to die, and we would have
a mental circus for a few minutes; finally after I had implored, prayed and
sworn with equal fervency she would again compose herself for a few
minutes. Our chief consolation was the doctor, an Irishman and a very good
fellow. Alice was really awfully sick.
Here we are as comfortable as possible. Today we took a most lovely
drive in a jaunting car to Blarney castle — a very picturesque old ruin, all
over grown with ivy and wild flowers. The country looks too beautiful
Roosevelt and Alice Hathaway Lee had been married in Brookline, Massachusetts,
October 27, 1880.
47
for anything and it is great fun to go in the curious jaunting cars; the seats
run the wrong way. Best love to all from Your Aff.
78 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.°
Paris, June 13, 1881
You darling, best beloved, dearest Puthy Pothlethivaite, The two innocents
are now on foreign soil. Our last days in London were very pleasant. We
had a good dinner at the Kingsfords; Kingsford p£re is very like Kingsford
fils, grown whitehaired, fat and good natured. We also had a very pleasant
lunch at the Tinne's, where we met "Uncle Robinson," a nice old scotch
baronet. One of the sights we enjoyed most was the Dor^e gallery; by Jove,
I like Dor6e — though he's very apt to paint by the square mile. I was
rather more amused than pleased by the Grosvenor Gallery, where the
Aesthetes exhibit their paintings; Symphonies in blue, Harmonies in green,
Fugues in yellow, and so on ad lubitum, with a plentiful sprinkling of stars
and lilies. Baby enjoys everything immensely, and has a far keener appre-
ciation of most of the pictures than I have. The other day, however, at
the Zoological Gardens I detected her wondering, from vague reminiscences
of poddies, "who had shaved the lions" — being otherwise unable to account
for their manes. We have certainly had great luck in our sea weather so
far; in crossing both the English and Irish Channels the water has been like
glass. Even Alice could not screw up any seasickness; and she has marvellous
abilities in that direction.
Rather to my surprise, I got along beautifully on my trip to Paris. The hat
box caused me a little trouble; you know it is built so [sketch], the lower
parts of the sides being thickened, for the silk hat. The custom house officiers
did not examine the trunks. I giving my word there was nothing contraband
but a small revolver and a pocket flask of brandy; but one intelligent speci-
men discovered the singularity of the band box, and concluded it to be some-
thing incendiary. My explanation that "c'est pour le beaver hat, vous savez,
confound it" did not help matters much; and I was only able to get it through
after it had been minutely examined and commented upon by 5 gend'a'rmes,
6 custom house officials, 4 railroad conductors, 19 porters, 27 cabmen and
142 distinterested spectators. We have very pleasant rooms here, and are
enjoying the trip as much as any two people ever did. Ever Your Loving
"Brother
79 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT Robinson Mss.Q
Paris, June 16, 1881
Darling Pussie, Your respectable brother and his austere wife turned up at
Paris in a happy-go-lucky kind of way, after a voyage that was not so diffi-
cult, considering that I know next to nothing of french, and Alice resents
it as an impertinence if she is addressed in any language but english. Really,
Alice is an excellent traveller; when I reach a station I leave her in a chair
with the parcels, and there she stays, round eyed and solemn, but perfectly
happy, till I have extricated my luggage, had it put on a hack and arranged
everything. We left one trunk in Liverpool; another in London; and when
we leave here for Venice (which we do tomorrow) shall dispense with one
of our two remaining ones, and the confounded hat box, which has clung to
us only too faithfully; it is just large enough to tumble out of any rack it
may be put in, in the cars. Being aware of this peculiarity I always arrange
it so as to fall on somebody else, and not ourselves.
We are at the Hotel Bellevue, Avenue de POpera; it's very comfortable.
Our bedroom and parlor are very pretty, and only one flight up. We break-
fast (delicious butter and french rolls, with coffee and chocolate) at about
ten, and then are off; we lunch at some one of the innumerable restaurants
— and how delicious the food is. Hitherto we have enjoyed the Louvre more
than anything else. I did not admire any of the French painters much — ex-
cept Greuze. Rubens three wives are represented in about fifty different
ways, which I think a mistake; no painter can make the same face serve for
Venus, the Virgin and a flemish lady. Murillo represents the holy family far
better to my mind, with his softness of outline and purity of expression, than
almost any of the great Italian painters. Altogether it would be difficult to
imagine any two people enjoying a trip more than do
80 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cowks MfS.°
Zermatt, August 5, 1 88 1
Darling Bysie, Day before yesterday, at nine in the morning, I started off,
accompanied by two guides, to make the ascent of the Matterhorn. I was
anxious to go up it because it is reputed very difficult and a man who has
been up it can fairly claim to have taken his degree as, at any rate, a subordi-
nate kind of mountaineer. At 6 o'clock in the evening we reached the small
hut, half a cavern, where we spent the night; it was on the face of a cliff,
up which we climbed by a rope forty feet long, and the floor was covered
with ice a foot deep. The mountain is so steep that snow will not remain on
the crumbling, jagged rocks, and possesses a certain sombre interest from
the number of people that have lost their lives on it. Accidents, however, are
generally due either to rashness, or else to a combination of timidity and
fatigue; a fairly hardy man, cautious but not cowardly, with good guides,
has little to fear. Still, there is enough peril to make it exciting, and the work
is very laborious being as much with the hands as the feet, and (very unlike
the Jungfrau) as hard coming down as going up. We left the hut at three-
forty and, after seeing a most glorious sunrise which crowned the countless
49
snow peaks and billowy, white clouds with a strange crimson irradescence,
reached the summit at seven, and were down at the foot of the Matterhorn
proper by one. It was like going up and down enormous stairs on your hands
and knees for nine hours. We then literally ran down the foot hills to Zermatt,
reaching it at half past three. It had been excessively laborious and during the
journey I was nearer giving out than on the Jungfrau, but I was not nearly
so tired afterwards, and in fact felt as fresh as ever after a cup of tea and a
warm bath; went to table d'hote as usual and afterwards over to see the Gar-
diners, and coming back we spent the rest of the evening with Mrs Baylies,
Miss Cornelia & Edmund. Your Loving Brother
8 I • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Coitiles Mss.Q
The Hague, August 21, 1 8 8 1
Darling Bysie, We came down the Rhine in a steamboat. The scenery was
lovely, but no more so than the Hudson except for the castles. These "robber
knight" castles are so close together that I alway wonder where there was
room for the other people whom the Robber Knights robbed. The Age of
Chivalry was lovely for the knights; but it must have at times been inex-
pressibly gloomy for the gentlemen who had to occasionally act in the
capacity of daily bread for their betters. It is like the purely traditional
"Merry England" of the Stuarts; where the merriment existed only for the
Stuarts, who were about the worst dynasty that ever sat on a throne.
At Cologne we met General and Mrs. Cullum. The latter was cordial and
jocose, if you can imagine her being so undignified, and I really like her; but
I think that her much-battered old spouse is rather a bore. But he introduced
me to a pleasant Commodore Baldwin; and they offered to make me a mem-
ber of the International Law Congress — for five dollars. I had'n't a dress
coat, and refused; I was rather sorry, for they were going to a dinner to meet
a Prince Karl of Prussia. However I think the Commodore may do me a good
turn at the Navy Department, in getting me access to records for that favour-
ite chateau-en-espagne of mine, the Naval History.1 You would be amused to
see me writing it here. I have plenty of information now, but I can't get it
into words; I am afraid it is too big a task for me. I wonder if I wo'n't find
everything in life too big for my abilities. Well, time will tell.
You asked me how I liked Kingsf ord's friend on the Ocean. I liked him
very much; and he gave me some very polite invitations, which I unluckily
could not accept. If I were not going to London so late I should be able to
present some very good letters there, to Swinburne, Tennyson &c, from a
half-congenial scallawag I rather fraternised with in Zermatt. He had married
a Boston girl whom Alice knew.
Alice having just killed a flea is eying with horror what she calls "his
little giblets." Your Loving and Shadey Brother
1 Theodore Roosevelt, The Naval War of 1812 (New York, 1882; Nat. Ed. VI).
5°
82 ' TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT RobinSOU
Brussels, August 24, 1881
fyarling Pzissie, Our trip through the Netherlands has been of necessity short,
but very pleasant. What we have chiefly enjoyed, I think, has been looking
at the country, the towns and the people themselves; and our regular "sight-
seeing" time has been devoted mainly to pictures. I know nothing atall, in
reality, of art, I regret to say, but I do know what pictures I like. I am not
atall fond of Rubens. He is eminently a fleshly, sensuous painter; and yet his
most famous pictures are those relating to the Divinity. Above all, he fails
in his female figures. Ruben's women are handsome animals, excellent as pic-
tures of rich flemish housewifes; but they are either ludicrous or revolting
when meant to represent either the Virgin or a saint. I think they are not
much better as heathen goddesses; I do'n't like a chubby Minerva, a corpulent
Venus and a Diana who is so fat that I know she could never overtake a cow,
let alone a deer.
Rembrandt is by all odds my favourite. I am very much attracted by his
strongly contrasted colouring, and I could sit for hours examining his heads,
they are so lifelike and expressive. Van Heist I like for the sake of the sake of
the realism with which he presents to you the bold, rich, turbulent dutchmen
of his time. Vandykes heads are wonderful; they are very lifelike and power-
ful — but if the originals were like them I should hardly have admired one.
Perhaps the pictures I really get most enjoyment out of are the landscapes,
the homely little dutch and flemish interiors, the faithful representations of
how the people of those times lived and made merry and died, which are
given us by Jan Steen, Van Ostade, Teniers and Ruysdaal. They bring out
the life of that period in a way no written history could, and interest me far
more than pictures of saints and madonnas. I suppose this sounds heretical,
but it is true. This time, I have really tried to like the Holy pictures but I
ca'n't; even the Italian masters seem to me to represent good men, and in-
sipidly good women, but rarely anything saintly or divine. The only pictures
I have seen with these attributes are Gustav Doree's! He alone represents the
Christ so that your pity for him is lost in intense admiration and reverence.
Your Loving
8 3 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.°
London, September 5, 1881
Darling Bysie, Our stay in Paris was mainly devoted to the intricacies of dress
buying: but we did manage to stow in a visit to the famous Cluny (see Per-
sonal Charades) and, what I enjoyed even more, to the tomb of Napoleon.
I do not think there is a more impressive sepulchre on earth than that tomb;
it is grandly simple. I am not very easily awestruck, but it certainly gave me
a solemn feeling to look at the plain, red stone bier which contained what
had once been the mightiest conqueror the world ever saw. He was a great
fighter, at least, though otherwise I suppose an almost unmixed evil. Hannibal
alone is his equal in military genius; and Caesar in cruel power and ambition.
What a child such a mere butcher as Tamerlane, Genghis Khan or Attila
would have been in his hands!
The weather was fairly rough crossing the channel, and poor baby-wife
was reduced to a condition of pink and round eyed misery. Until she has
been worn out seasickness only makes her look peculiarly bright and healthy.
I managed to keep in good trim by vigorous walking up and down the deck
in the spray.
Here we have been completing our stock of modest presents for those
at home, and today we were overjoyed by finding one for mother after a
long hunt; it is just the very thing for her. I'm going to bring you back three
soup tickets and a Perpetual Motion machine, and (do'n't read this part
aloud) Corinne a flirtation fan and a scotch lachrymatory, if such an instru-
ment exists.
Best love to all, and much from Your "Devoted brother
84 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Liverpool, September 14, 1 8 8 1
Darling Motherling, While in London I went to see the Dore6 Gallery again,
and was frightfully disappointed. I do'n't like his pictures atall now. Here we
are of course having a most splendid time. Uncle Irvine is the jolliest, kindest
host imaginable, and both Alice and I are just as fond of him as we can pos-
sibly be. Jessie is staying with us and she and Alice have taken a great fancy
to one-another. Dearest Aunt Hattie is just too sweet to us for anything, and
as motherly as ever. As for me, I spend almost the entire time with the
blessed old sea-captain, talking over naval history, and helping him arrange
his papers, of which he has literally thousands. I have persuaded him to pub-
lish a work which only he possesses the materials to write, about the naval
operations abroad during the last war, which were conducted and managed
by him — including the cruise in the Fingal. I enjoy talking to the dear old
fellow more than I can tell; he is such a modest high souled old fellow that
I just love and respect him. And I think he enjoys having some one to talk to
who really enjoys listening. Of course, had I been old enough, I would have
served on the Northern side; but I am none the less interested in his history
on account of that, as I do not think partisanship should ever obscure the
truth. Ever Lovingly Yours
When I come home I shall stay at 6 W 57th St and if possible go right on
to see the Lees, as I can not go there later in the winter.
5*
New York and Mdora
1881-1889
85 ' TO VOTERS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST ASSEMBLY DISTRICT CO'WleS
New York, November i, 1881
Dear Sir, Having been nominated as a candidate for member of Assembly for
this District, I would esteem it a compliment if you honor me with your vote
and personal influence on Election day. Very respectfully1
86 • TO CHARLES GRENFILL WASHBXJRN RMA. MSS.°
New York, November i o, 1 88 1
Dear Charley, Too True! Too True! I have become a "political hack."
Finding it would not interfere much with my law I accepted the nomina-
tion to the assembly, and was elected by 1500 majority, heading the ticket by
600 votes. But do'n't think I am going to go into politics after this year, for
I am not.
With wannest regards to your mother and father, and from Mrs R. I am
Your True Friend
87 • TO JOSEPH HODGES CHOATE ChOdte
New York, November i o, 1 8 8 1
My Dear Mr. Choate, As I feel that I owe both my nomination and election
more to you than to any other one man, I wish to tell you how I have
appreciated both your kind sympathy and the support you have given me.
I have taken a somewhat heavy burden of responsibility upon my shoul-
ders, and I regret that I have, of necessity, had so little experience; but at least
I shall endeavour to do my work honestly.
In spite of the immediate loss, I think the defeat of Astor and Hamilton
will do the Republican party great good in the future. Very Truly Yours
88 • TO HENRY DENTON NICOLL RMA. MSS.°
Albany, January 24, 1882
Dear Sir1 It gives me the greatest pleasure to accept the offerred position,
which I owe entirely to your exertions — and I only fear that I will by no
means come up to your expectations. But I shall do my best
1 The official party circular endorsing Roosevelt and testifying to his "high charac-
ter ... honesty and integrity" was signed by F. A. P. Barnard, William T. Black,
Wfflard Bullard, Joseph H. Choate, William A. Darling, Henry E. Davies, Theodore
W. Dwight, Jacob Hess, Morris K. Jesup, Edward Mitchell, William F. Morgan,
Charles S. Robinson, Elihu Root, Jackson S. Schultz, Elliott F. Shepard, Gustavus
Tuckerman, S. H. Wales, and W. H. Webb. The nomination and campaign are
discussed in Roosevelt, Autobiography, Nat. Ed. XX, 57-66.
1 Henry Denton Nicoll was a New York physician. This letter is in acceptance of a
position on the Board of Managers of the New York Infant Asylum.
55
Unluckily I did not receive your note in rime to answer it before; I shall
be in New York about Feb loth and shall do myself the honour of calling on
you at once. If ours Truly
89 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT R.M.A.
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, July 5, 1882
Darling Muffle, Yesterday being fourth of July, Georgie and Bella held high
jinks and nearly drove their much-enduring mother distracted.1 In the eve-
ning it rained but, in spite of that, dear, patient Mr. Lee set off innumerable
rockets, mines and roman candles, with a face of damp, resigned misery.
About twenty of the more diminutive Chestnut Killers had gathered to wit-
ness the performance, and to partake of ice cream and strawberries; later in
the evening I played bear with them on the piazza, until my acting became
too realistic, and the smaller ones began to have a horrible suspicion that per-
haps I really 'was a bear, and a stampede into the rain, and inside the house
ensued — but they all came back very shortly, so I suppose the terror was
rather pleasant. During the day I played ninety one games of tennis with
Frank Lee and Codman.
I shall come out on Saturday afternoon in the 4.30 train; I do not believe
that the blessed little pink wifie will come until the following Wednsday.
I have decided to study law in John's office during three or four days a week
for the rest of the summer. Goodbye, darling, love to all. Your Loving Son
P.S. I am expecting a little box at Oyster Bay; keep it for me.
90 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoitileS MSS.°
Henderson Home, New York, September 15, 1882
Darling, Much-abused Eysie, I just loved your dear old letter, and in response
to its by no means implied reproaches I have at once begun a letter to you.
We are having a simply perfect time, the only drawback being your absence,
which we talk of all the time; you do'n't know how we miss you, all of us,
but especially the irresponsible couple. I suppose you have been told all about
our drive up here. We enjoyed it exceedingly, and Alicey was just the same
little darling as always. Old Doug was as funny as he could be; having begun
to chaff us I thought we would turn the tables, and, in delicate allusion to
his father's theory that the English people in general and the Robinsons in
particular are lineal descendants of die ten lost tribes, christened him Mac-
Judas; then, as a tribute to his vocal powers, added Ben Calliope; and finally,
when we discovered that he used some scented mixture on his hair, inserted
the middle name of Patchouli. (I have just showed this to Doug) Mr. Robin-
1 George Cabot Lee, brother of Alice Lee Roosevelt, was at this time about eleven
years old; he became the senior partner in Lee Higginson and Company. Isabella M.
Lee was the younger sister of Alice Lee Roosevelt; in 1895 she married George
Saltonstall Mumford, Boston banker.
56
son has been lovely to us, and I think enjoys our being here; he still shows a
strong tendency to trace all evils, from the absence of rain to the fight with
Arabi Pascha, to the presence of the Roman Catholics in America. Mother
really feels well, and is as amusing as she can be. Every day we play tennis and
croquet; and then we men go off for a long ride, and all of us go driving in
the afternoon, generally in the democrat. In the evening the rest of the men
smoke while I play whist with Mother, Alice and Pussy.
I hardly know what to do about taking a place up here; it would be lovely
to have a farm, and fortunately Alice seems enchanted with the country. The
only, or at least the chief, drawback, is the distance from New York. Still, if
I were perfectly certain that I would go on in politics and literature I should
buy the farm without hesitation; but I consider the chances to be strongly
favorable to my getting out of both — and if I intend to follow law or busi-
ness I ought to stay in New York.
We are now going to start for Richfield Springs, and I must say good bye.
Mother is carrying on an eventful and involved conflict with Jane and her
own hair, with every prospect of defeat. Best love to Uncle Jimmie and
Aunt Annie, and warmest regards to the ferocious Miss Parish. Your Loving
brother
91 • TO SAMUEL J. COLGATE Printed1
New York, October 8, 1 8 8 2
Dear Sir: On thinking over the matter it seemed to me to be of vital impor-
tance that the club should not contain among its members any who are either
at present office-holders or who may become so in future. I am at present a
member of the New-York Legislature, and if I am renominated I may very
possible be a candidate for re-election. Under the circumstances, allthough,
it is needless to say, most heartily in sympathy with objects of the club, I do
not think that it will be for the advantage of the organization to have me
continue a member. Very truly, yours
92 • TO HENRY H. HULL Printed1
New York, October 2 4, 1 8 8 2
My Dear Sir: To my great regret I have no copy of my speech, which was of
necessity short, each speaker being limited to two minutes. It is sheer non-
*New York Times, October 9, 1882. Samuel J. Colgate was president of the City
Reform Club, founded "to promote the election of honest, capable men in municipal
offices." Roosevelt presided at the organization meeting, at which, among others,
Elliott Roosevelt, Moses Taylor Pyne, Douglas Robinson, Poultney Bigelow, and
Cleveland H. Dodge were present. The need for the club, Roosevelt explained to
the press, derived from "the deplorable kck of interest in the political questions of
the day among respectable, well-educated men — young men especially."
*Steuben Courier, October 27, 1882. Hull, the editor, had written Roosevelt asking
for a copy of his speech against a bill to exempt Jay Gould's Manhattan Elevated
Railway from taxation.
57
sense for any man to pretend that he voted on that bill without being fully
aware of its character. It was put through under the gag law of the previous
question, which cut off all debate, and which was of itself enough to excite
the suspicions of any man of reasonable intelligence. Then, when my turn
came to vote, I spoke with the greatest emphasis, stating and showing beyond
doubt that the bill was a steal, and the motives of its supporters dishonest.
Mr. Robb, a New York Democrat of unimpeachable character and ability,
took the same stand that I did, so that Mr. Searl did not have even the poor
excuse of partisanship; yet immediately afterwards, and in spite of the fact
that our words had produced an immediate change in the current of the vot-
ing, Mr. Searl voted for the bill. Very truly yours
93 • TO WILLIAM THOMAS O*NEIL R.M.A. M.SS?
New York, November 12, 1882
My Dear O'Neil? All Hail, fellow survivor of the late Democratic Deluge!
I see you ran way ahead of your ticket. Down here such voting was never
seen before. I carried my Assembly district by 2200 majority,2 the Republi-
can Congressman by 700, and the Democratic Governor carried it by 1800
the other way! Sprague, in his district, got but 16 majority, and may be
counted out.8 Robb, in the strongest Republican District in the city, was de-
feated by but 69 votes.
As far as I can judge the next House will contain a rare set of scoundrels,
and we Republicans will be in such a hopeless minority that I do not see very
clearly what we can accomplish, even in checking bad legislation. But at
least we will do our best.
I have a bone to pick with Erwin,4 over his having nominated Smyth5
1 William Thomas O'Neil, a member of the New York Assembly with Roose-
velt, came from the Adirondacks where he kept a small crossroads store. Roose-
velt spoke of him as "my closest friend for the three years I was [in the Assembly].
... In all the important things we were close together. . . . All his life he had to
strive hard to wring his bread from harsh surroundings and a reluctant fate; if fate
had been but a little kinder, I believe he would have had a great political career." —
Roosevelt, Autobiography, Nat. Ed. XX, 67-68.
'Among those who endorsed Roosevelt publicly were Joseph H. Choate, William
M. Evarts, Morris K. Jesup, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Jesse Seligman.
•Henry L. Sprague, a Republican, with Roosevelt and Robb had the support of
the reform element in New York City. During their campaign for re-election Carl
Schurz spoke enthusiastically of their work: Only last year in a small section of
this City, the people undertook the choice of their own Assemblymen, and they
sent to the Legislature three almost beardless youths, who proved to be exponents
of the power and honesty of the Gty of New York. Almost alone, two Republicans
and one Democrat — they stemmed the tide of corruption in that fearful legislative
gathering." — New York Times, October 28, 1882.
4 George Z. Erwin was a Republican member of the Assembly; elected Speaker of
the House in 1885.
5 John F. Smyth of Albany, an unscrupulous leader of the Republican organization,
was elected chairman of die State Committee.
58
as Chairman of the State Committee; his nomination was an insult to honest
men.
Trusting all is well with you, I am, Very Truly Yours
94 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ M SS.°
New York, November 14, 1882
My Dear Mr. Schurz, Mayor Grace1 informs me that he has nominated for
one of the police commissioners Mr. M. J. Costello. I was with him in the
legislature last year, and I wish to bear testimony to his ability, courage and
absolute integrity; he was one of the most useful members of the house, being
always at his post, and being always ready to act with promptness and hon-
esty on every question that presented itself. Though he is not of my party,
I must say that he is as good a selection as could possibly have been made.
If you can, I hope you will say a good word for him in the "Post." Hoping
I have not trespassed too much on your time, I am Very Truly Yours
95 • TO LUCAS L. VAN ALLEN R.M.A. MSS.°
New York, December 15, 1882
My Dear Van Allen,1 I am in the race for the Republican nomination for
Speaker, against Derrick; can you give me your support? 2 I went in as no-
body else seemed inclined to make the fight. At any rate I am glad we are
to be together next winter. Very Res'p'y Yours
96 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS
Albany, Monday evening1
Darling Bysie, I am staying with Bayard Van Rennsaeler for a day or two
looking up our future rooms, which I do not like to decide on without hav-
ing Alice see. She is coming on here and we will be in New York on Thurs-
day Your Loving Brother
P.S. The Bostonians were awfully kind to us. I was put up at the Somer-
set; Percy Lowell 2 gave me a dinner there, and Harry Burnett a lunch; and
1 William Russell Grace, "the pirate of Peru," president of W. R. Grace and Com-
pany which handled almost all contracts for the Peruvian government; president of
the Grace Steamship Company and of the New York & Pacific Steamship Company;
reform mayor of New York, 1880-1888.
1 Lucas L. Van Allen, then a member of the Assembly from New York City.
•The Republican nomination for the speakership was merely complimentary since
the Democrats controlled the Assembly. Richard A. Derrick of Rensselaer was
Roosevelt's strongest opponent, enjoying the support of the Stalwarts. At the caucus
Roosevelt received the nomination by acclamation.
1 The date of this letter is uncertain, beyond Roosevelt's own notation of "Monday
evening." Mrs. Cowles, in her book, places the time as January 1882. On the original
letter the date "1883" is entered, apparently at a later time by an unidentified hand.
•Percival Lowell, the astronomer, brother of Abbott Lawrence Lowell.
59
Bob Grant8 also had me to dine and took me round afterwards to the St.
Botolph's club, a kind of Boston "Century" where I was introduced to James,
the novelist, and had a most pleasant time, meeting Cabot Lodge,4 General
Wilson,5 General MacDowell,6 Edward Everett Hale,7 and several others.
The Lees were as lovely as ever.
The postcript is longer than I intended.
97 • TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT R.M.A.
Albany, February 20, 1883
Darling Motherling, I just loved your sweet little Muffie-like note; it made
me feel as if I must take you right in my arms. I had a lovely time last Sunday
night; there is nothing to me that compares with a home evening passed
among those I love.
My speech went off very well; I did not forget a word, nor was I atall
embarrassed. But I doubt if it really pays to learn a speech by heart; for I felt
just like a schoolboy reciting his piece. Besides I do not speak enough from
the chest, so my voice is not as powerful as it ought to be.
Goodbye, my own dearest little Mother, Ever Your Fond Son
98 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON Robinson
Richfield Springs, New York, July i, 1883
Wee Pussie, proprietress of a still more wee kitten* The drive up was very
pleasant — in spots. In spots it was'n't. On the first day about half way up
Overlook Mountain (3200 feet high, the ascent made in 4 miles) which was
so steep I had to walk, I was struck by the extraordinary breathing of the
horse, and then I for the first time remembered that a year ago he had been,
as Burke said "uncommon bad with the heaves"; and the heaves he had, with
a vengeance, thanks chiefly to his persisting in trotting up all the mountains,
'Robert Grant, in 1883 at the beginning of a distinguished career in Boston legal
and intellectual circles. Judge of the Probate Court and Court of Insolvency for
Suffolk County, he was also an indefatigable author of genial essays and jejeune,
didactic, novels.
*This is the first mention in the correspondence of the man who became one of
Roosevelt's closest political associates and personal friends.
"James Harrison Wilson, a frequent and valued contributor to the Roosevelt cor-
respondence. As a general officer in the Civil War he once defeated N. B. Forrest,
and on another occasion commanded "the longest and greatest single cavalry move-
ment" of the war. Both in the Spanish-American War and in the Boxer Rebellion
he served with distinction. A student of his profession he wrote two excellent biog-
raphies, of U. S. Grant and J. A. Rawlins.
6lrvin McDowell, commander of the Union forces at the first battle of Bull Run.
TEdward Everett Hale, the author of The Man Without a Country (Boston, 1865),
was then pastor of the South Congregational Church in Boston.
1 Theodore Douglas Robinson, the eldest son of Douglas Robinson and Corinne
Roosevelt Robinson.
60
until I had to adopt the plan of leading him up each hill. When he recovered
the jolting of the buggy made Alice sick; and when she got well the wheels
began to squeak in a way that was simply soul harrowing. I had them oiled,
and the horse immediately "hove" again, and then, as we left civilization,
Alice mildly but firmly refused to touch the decidedly primitive food of the
aborigines, and led a starvling existence on crackers which I toasted for her
in the greasy kitchens of the grimy inns. But, on the other hand, the scenery
was superb; I have never seen grander views than among the Catskills, or a
more lovely country than that we went through afterwards; the horse, in-
spite of his heaves, throve wonderfully, and nearly ate his head off; and Alice,
who reached Cooperstown very limp indeed, displayed her usual marvellous
powers of forgetting past woe, and in two hours time, after having eaten till
she looked like a little pink boa constrictor, was completely herself again.
By the way, having listened with round eyed interest to one man advising
me to "wet the feed and hay" of Lightfoot, for his heaves, at the next place
she paralyzed the ostler by a direction to "wet his feet and hair" for the same
benevolent object. Personally, I enjoyed the trip immensely, in spite of the
mishaps to spouse and steed, and came in to Richfield Springs feeling su-
perbly. But, under the direction of the heavy jowled idiot of a medical man
to whose tender mercies Doctor Polk has intrusted me, I am rapidly relapsing.
I do'n't so much mind drinking the stuff — you can get an idea of the taste
by steeping a box of sulphur matches in dish water and drinking the delec-
table compound tepid from an old kerosene oil can — and at first the boiling
baths were rather pleasant; but, for the first time in my life I came within an
ace of fainting when I got out of the bath this morning, I have a bad heache,
a general feeling of lassitude, and am bored out of my life by having nothing
whatever to do, and being placed in that quintessence of abomination, a
large summer hotel at a watering place for underbred and overdressed girls,
fat old female scandal mongers, and a select collection of assorted cripples
and consumptives.
Now to the great subject of interest. I really can not 'write about it; I am
just longing to have a chat with you. I am honestly delighted, however, for
I think the dear old boy has won a lovely girl for his wife,2 and I am greatly
mistaken if it does not do him all the good in the world to have something
to work for in life. I am very anxious to see her and know her. I am sure I
shall like her very much. But it is of no use trying to 'write on such a subject.
Your darling Pussie, I am so sorry you were sick, I do hope you are
better. Give my best love to the sweet little motherling, to the Driving Wheel
of Destiny and Superintendent-in-Chief of the Workings of Providence,
otherwise known as Bysie, the sweetest sister that ever lived, and to that dear
old embodiment of energy, Doug (I am so sorry he did'n't win the tennis
prize). Alice sends many kisses. Ever Your Loving Brother
P.S. Fifty kisses for the wee, wee baby boy.
• Elliott Roosevelt had become engaged to Anna Rebecca Hall.
61
99 * TO MARTHA BULLOCH ROOSEVELT R.M.A.
Richfield Springs, New York, July 8, 1 8 8 3
Darling little Motherling, Many, many happy returns of the day, you sweet-
est little mother that ever lived! The pink wifie and I have been talking of
you and loving you ever so much, and wishing we could be with you today.
And we were both saying how very much we had enjoyed your little visits
to us last winter, and how pleased we were that you cared to come down to
the litde house. You must be down there just whenever you please all the
time, as often as you care to come, for the more often it is the warmer and
warmer your welcome would be.
I am so anxious to see you and talk about the dear little lady who is to
come into the family; I am so glad you care for her, and I know Alice and I
will love her greatly for her own sake, as we do now for that of our beloved
old brother. I honestly believe it to be a great thing for Nell to marry and
settle down with a definite purpose in life.
I have just received such a dear letter from Pussie; give her many kisses,
and also to the wee, wee Bunny baby boy — to think he should ever grow
up to be a great strapping MacPherson!
This place is monotonous enough to give an angel the blues. We had a
lovely lunch with Mrs. Robinson the other day. Ever Your Loving Son
Best love to Bysie.
1 00 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS?
New York, September 3, 1883
Darling Bysie, Today I leave for a hunting trip in Dacotah; Gorringe is un-
able to accompany me.
Neither Uncle Jim nor any of his family, except Emlen when I told him
about it, have spoken a word, good, bad or indifferent, to me about the place.
After a great deal of trouble, I have finally succeeded in getting your
thirty acres all together, so that you will have them in a ring fence, as this
was what I knew you were particularly desirous of. Your place will thus be
in a compact body — but I had to string Uncle Jimmies out to accomplish it.
I am very glad you have enjoyed yourself so much in Halifax. Ever Your
Loving
101 -TO WALTER SAGE HUBBELL R.M.A. MSS.°
New York, November 12, 1883
Dear Sir1 Although not personally acquainted with you, I take the liberty of
writing to state that I am a candidate for Speaker. Last year, when we were
1 Walter Sage Hubbell, a member of the Assembly from Monroe County.
62
in the minority, I was the party nominee for that position; and if you can
consistently support me I shall be greatly obliged.
Hoping to hear from you at your convenience, I am Very Truly Yours
102 • TO JONAS S. VAN DUZER RMA.
New York, November 2 o, 1 8 8 3
My dear Sfr,1 1 was very glad to get your letter; permit me to say that it was
the most interesting and practical one I have received.
In answer to your questions I would state that, after having passed
through Harvard College, I studied for the bar; but going into politics shortly
after leaving college, and finding the work in Albany, if conscientiously
done, very harassing, I was forced to take up some out-of-doors occupation
for the summer, and now have a cattle ranch in Dakotah. I am a Republican,
pure and simple, neither a "half breed" nor a "stalwart"; and certainly no
man, nor yet any ring or clique, can do my thinking for me. As you say, I
believe in treating all our business interests equitably and alike; in favoring
no one interest or set of interests at the expense of others. In making up the
committees I should pay attention, first, to the absolute integrity of the men,
second, to their capacity to deal intelligently with the matters likely to come
before them — for in our present anything but ideal condition of public af-
fairs, honesty and common sense are the two prime requisites for a legislator.
As writing is, at best, unsatisfactory work, I shall try to see you in person
before the session begins.
With great regard, I am Very truly yours
103 • TO JONAS S. VAN DUZER ShaW Mtt.1
New York, December 22, 1883
My dear Mr. Van Duzer, I had of course no knowledge of the article in the
Tribune, nor of the sources from which the writer got his estimates of the
strength of the candidates. I had never included you among my supporters,
nor had I included one or two other men who were given me — such as Price
of Chautauqua, for instance; on the other hand I will get several of the other
men whom the writer counted for Litdejohn and Sheard.2
I am very sure Litdejohn can be beaten; though I suppose that in the end
he and Sheard will come together, and one of them (which one no one can
tell until the last moment) support the other.
At any rate, I am much stronger than I had dared to hope, and if I am not
mistaken I stand an excellent chance of winning in spite of both the lobby
and the politicians.
1 Jonas S. Van Duzer was a member of the Assembly from Chemung County.
1 Reproduced here from a typed copy.
'Titus Sheard was elected Speaker.
63
I shall be in Albany on Thursday, but will scarcely develop my strength
till Saturday.
With great respect Very Truly Yours
104 ' TO ALICE LEE ROOSEVELT R.M.A. MsS.Q
Albany, January 22, 1884
Darling Wifie, After leaving you on Monday I found that we could get back
for the evening session by taking the 3.30 train, which we accordingly did;
the box of pills came up all right by Erwin, who remained three or four
hours later.
I had my first sparring lesson for five years this morning; I felt much
better for it; but am awfully out of training. I feel much more at ease in my
mind and better able to enjoy things since we have gotten under weigh; I
feel now as though I had the reins in my hand. Ever Your Fond
P.S. How I long to get back to my own sweetest little wife!
105 • TO ALICE LEE ROOSEVELT R.M.A.
Albany, January 28, 1884
Darling Wifie, All of the men were perfectly enchanted with their visit to
our house; they admired the rooms, the hall, the hunting trophies (Elliott's),
and more especially the hosts. They could hardly believe that mother was
really our mother; and above all they praised my sweet little wife. I was very
much amused by Welch,1 who said that he had never seen any one look so
pretty as you did when you were asking me not to tell the "shaved lion"
story; he said "I would have felt just as badly as she would have if you had
gone on to tell it." So I felt very glad we had entertained the three "pollys."
Tonight I dine at the Newbolds; tomorrow with Howe;2 I am afraid I
can not be down till late Thursday.
With warmest love for my hearts dearest I am Ever Your Fond
1 06 • TO ALICE LEE ROOSEVELT RM.A.
Albany, February 6, 1884
Darling Wifie, How I did hate to leave my bright, sunny little love yesterday
afternoon! I love you and long for you all the time, and oh so tenderly;
doubly tenderly now, my sweetest little wife. I just long for Friday evening
when I shall be with you again.
Today I sparred as usual; my teacher is a small man and in the set-to today
I bloodied his nose by an upper cut, and knocked him out of time.
1 Thomas V. Welch, Democratic member of the Assembly from Niagara County.
"Walter Howe, Republican member of the Assembly from New York City, a close
friend of Roosevelt.
Edith Carow, Theodore, Corinne, and Elliott Roosevelt
CCI had a very happy childhood."
Alice Lee, Gorinne, and Anna Roosevelt ^
"I honor the good man, I honor the good woman still more.
Roosevelt the Undergraduate
A Vacation in Maine with Bill Sewall and Will
In the House we had a most exciting debate on my Reform Charter bill,1
and I won a victory, having it ordered to a third reading. Tomorrow evening
I am to dine at the Rathbones, at half past seven; it was very kind to ask me,
but I do not anticipate much fun.
Goodbye, sweetheart. Your Ever Loving
107 • TO ALICE LEE ROOSEVELT R.M.A. MsS.Q
Albany, February 6, 1884
Darling Wifie, I have just received your dear little note with the letter from
Uncle Jimmie. Last evening I took dinner at the same table with the Dan-
forths;1 1 thought I would pitch into Chapin2 a little to see the effect on Miss
Danforth, and I was amused to see how she fired up.
I think I made a nice strike in my speech on the aldermanic bill yesterday;8
I did not do as well as I have sometimes done, but still it was one of my best
speeches — though I do not know that that is saying much.
With best love, Ever Your Fond
1 08 • TO DORA WATKINS RMA. M.SS.
Telegram New York, February 13, 1 884
Dear Dolly We have a little daughter.1 The mother only fairly well. Yours
ever
1 09 • TO ANDREW DICKSON WHITE R.M.A. MSS.
New York, February 1 8, 1 884
Dear Mr. White: * Many thanks for your kind sympathy and remembrance of
me.2 1 shall come back to my work at once; there is now nothing left for me
1 Roosevelt was now chairman of the Committee on Cities. Using the power which
this position gave him, he introduced a number of bills designed to weaken Tam-
many control in New York City. The bill here mentioned removed the power of
confirmation from the Board of Aldermen, giving the mayor absolute power of
appointment. It was passed, as were several other of Roosevelt's bills; all made defi-
nite contributions to the efficiency of the city government.
1 Elliott Danforth, a prominent New York Democrat, later chairman of the State
Committee, 1896-1898.
8 Alfred Clark Chapin, Democratic member of the Assembly, 1882-1883, state comp-
troller, 1884-1887, Later mayor of Brooklyn and a member of Congress.
•Speech on "The Confirmatory Power of the Board of Aldermen" in the New
York Assembly, February 5, 1884.
1 Alice Lee Roosevelt, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and Alice Hathaway (Lee)
Roosevelt, born on February 12, 1884.
1 Andrew Dickson White, first president of Cornell University, 1868-1885; later min-
ister to Russia, 1892-1894, ambassador to Germany, 1897-1902.
•Both Theodore Roosevelt's mother, Martha Bufloch Roosevelt, and his wife, Alice
Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, died on February 14, 1884.
65
except to try to so live as not to dishonor the memory of those I loved who
have gone before me. Your friend
I I O • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ
Albany, February 21, 1 884
Dear Mr. Schurz, Your words of kind sympathy were very welcome to me;
and you can see I have taken up my work again; indeed I think I should go
mad if I were not employed.
I will try to act in public so as to deserve what you have said of me;
though I have not lived long, yet the keenness of joy and the bitterness of
sorrow are now behind me; but at least I can live so as not to dishonor the
memory of the dead whom I so loved. Ever Faithfully Yours
I I I • TO SIMON NEWTON DEXTER NORTH RMA.
Albany, April 30, 1884
Dear Mr. North: 1 I wish to write you a few words just to thank you for
your kindness towards me, and to assure you that my head will not be turned
by what I well know was a mainly accidental success.2 Although not a very
old man, I have yet lived a great deal in my life, and I have known sorrow
too bitter and joy too keen to allow me to become either cast down or elated
for more than a very brief period over any success or defeat.
I have very little expectation of being able to keep on in politics; my suc-
cess so far has only been won by absolute indifference to my future career;
for I doubt if any man can realise the bitter and venomous hatred with which
I am regarded by the very politicians who at Utica supported me, under
dictation from masters who were influenced by political considerations that
were national and not local in their scope. I realize very thoroughly the
absolutely ephemeral nature of the hold I have upon the people, and a very
real and positive hostility I have excited among the politicians. I will not stay
in public life unless I can do so on my own terms; and my ideal, whether
lived up to or not is rather a high one.
For very many reasons I will not mind going back into private for a few
years. My work this winter has been very harassing, and I feel both tired and
restless; for the next few months I shall probably be in Dakota, and I think
1 Simon Newton Dexter North, editor of the Utica Morning Herald, Director of the
Census, 1903-1909.
•The state convention to select delegates for the Republican National Convention
had been held at Utica the preceding week. Roosevelt appeared there as the leader
of the independent group supporting Senator Edmunds of Vermont. This group,
though small, held the balance of power between the Elaine and Arthur delegates.
Roosevelt, playing upon the latters7 dislike of Elaine, persuaded the Arthur men to
throw their support to Edmunds, thus carrying the convention for the Vermont
senator.
66
I shall spend the next two or three years in making shooting trips, either in
the far West or in the Northern Woods — and there will be plenty of work
to do writing. Very truly yours
112 -TO Printed I
Albany, May i, 1884
Dear Sir, I do not know where you would find a sketch of my life. I will
give you an outline myself. Do you wish me to send you a photograph of
myself? Some are much worse than others. I will send you one if you wish.
I was born in New York, Oct 27* 1858; my father of old dutch knicker-
bocker stock; my mother was a Georgian, descended from the revolutionary
Governor Bulloch. I graduated at Harvard in 1880; in college did fairly in
my studies, taking honors in Natural History and Political Economy; and was
very fond of sparring, being champion light weight at one time. Have pub-
lished sundry papers on ornithology, either on my trips to the north woods,
or around my summer home on the wooded, broken shore of northern Long
Island. I published also a "History of the Naval War of 1 8 1 2 with an account
of the Battle of New Orleans," which is now a text book in several colleges,
and has gone through three editions. I married Miss Alice Lee of Boston on
leaving college in 1880. My father died in 1878; my wife and mother died in
February 1884. 1 have a little daughter living.
I am very fond of both horse and rifle, and spend my summers either on
the great plains after buffalo and antelope or in the northern woods, after
deer and caribou.
Am connected with various charitable organizations, such as the Childrens
Aid Society, Orthopaedic Hospital, National Prison Association, and others,
in which my father took a leading part.
I was elected to the Assembly from the 2ist district of New York in the
autumn of 1 88 1; in 1882 I served on the Committee on Cities. My chief work
was endeavouring to get Judge Westbrook impeached on the ground of mal-
feasance in office and collusion with Mr. Jay Gould, in connection with
railroad litigation.
Was reelected and in 1883 when the Republicans were in a minority was
their candidate for speaker, thus becoming their titular leader on the floor.
My main speech was on the report of the democratic committee giving
Sprague (Republican) the seat wrongly held by Bliss (Democrat), which
report was reversed by the action of the Democratic house. Was again re-
elected. The republicans were in the majority; was a candidate for the speak-
ership, and in the caucus received 30 votes to the 42 received by the suc-
cessful candidate Mr Sheard, who was backed by both the halfbreeds who
1From a handwritten facsimile in "Theodore Roosevelt — by Himself," Cosmopoli-
tan Magazine, 44:s8-46 (November 1907). The letter was addressed to an unidenti-
fied newspaper correspondent in Albany.
followed Senator Miller, and the stalwarts of President Arthurs train. This
winter my main work has been pushing the Municipal Reform bills for New
York City; in connection with which I have conducted a series of investiga-
tions into its various departments Most of my bills have been passed and
signed.2
In the primaries before the Utica Convention, I led the independents in
my district, who, for the first time in the history of New York City Politics,
won against the machine men, though the latter were backed up by all the
Federal and municipal patronage. At Utica, I led the Edmunds men, who
held the balance of power between the followers of Elaine and of Arthur; we
used our position to such good effect as to procure the election of all four
delegates as Edmunds men, though we were numerically not over 70 strong,
barely a seventh of the total number of men at the convention. Am fairly well
off; my recreations are reading, riding and shooting. Very Respy
I I 3 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed *
Albany, May 5, 1 884
My dear Mr. Lodge, Curiously enough I had just begun a letter to you when
I received yours. I wish to, in turn, congratulate you upon your success,2
which, by the way, is of a far more solid and enduring kind than is mine.
The result of the Utica convention was largely an accident; chance threw
in our way an opportunity such as will never occur again; and I determined
to use it for every ounce it was worth.
Unquestionably, Elaine is our greatest danger; for I fear lest, if he come
too near success, the bread-and-butter brigade from the south will leave
Arthur and go over to him. We who stand against both must be organized,
and, moreover, must select our candidate with the greatest care. I have a plan
which I would like to talk to you about. I do not believe New York can by
any possibility be held solid; our delegation will split into three, and we will
do more than I believe we can if we unite any two of the parts.
'For detailed analyses of Roosevelt's work as an assemblyman see his Autobiography,
Nat. Ed. XX, 57-95; Theodore Roosevelt, "Phases of State Legislation," American
Ideals, Nat. Ed. XIII, 47-75; Theodore Roosevelt, "A Judicial Experience," Outlook,
91:563-565 (March 13, 1909); DeAlva Stanwood Alexander, Four Famous New
Yorkers (New York, 1923), ch. ii; Joseph Bucklin Bishop, ed. Theodore Roosevelt
and His Time Shown m His Own Letters, I (New York, 1920), 6-32; Howard
Lawrence Hurwitz, Theodore Roosevelt and Labor m New York State, 1880-1900
(New York, 1943), PP- 75-I04» Allan Nevins, Grover Cleveland, a Study in Courage
(New York, 1932), pp. 107-144; Pringle, Roosevelt, pp. 65-78. See also Roosevelt's
"Diary of 5 Months in the New York Legislature," Appendix I, below. Several of
the speeches Roosevelt made while in the Assembly are reprinted in Campaigns and
Controversies^ Nat. Ed. XIV, 3-36.
1 Henry Cabot Lodge, ed., Selections from the Correspondence of Theodore Roose-
velt and Henry Cabot Lodge 1884-1918 (New York, 1925), I, i.
* Lodge had been elected a delegate from Massachusetts to the Republican Conven-
tion.
68
Can you not come to New York on Saturday the i6th; and stay with me,
at 6 West 57th St? We are breaking up house, so you will have to excuse
very barren accommodations. On Saturday I hope to have a number of the
independent delegates meet, and should like you to see them. I will then go
on with you to Washington with pleasure. On Thursday I go down to New
York to stay till Monday; so write me there (6 West jyth St.) Very truly
yours
1 1 4 • TO LOUIS THEODORE MicHENER Michener Mss.°
New York, May 5, 1 884
Dear Sir,1 1 was very to receive your kind letter. I suppose it is hardly nec-
essary for me to say that I heartily agree with the views you express as to
the kind of man we ought to nominate. I am now in communication with the
various delegates from New York and New England who think as we do;
I shall keep you posted as to our movements. As soon as we get to Chicago,
we must all meet and try to agree on some definite plan of action. Most Truly
Yours
1 1 5 • TO LOUIS THEODORE MICHENER Michener Mss?
New York, May 23, 1884
Dear Sir, I have been at work pretty industriously here. There are between
sixty and seventy delegates from New York and New England who are
"independents," or "Edmunds men." These are going to meet in conference
on Monday afternoon, at the headquarters of the Massachusetts Delegation
at the Leland House; will you not be there with as many of the Indiana men
who think as we do, as possible? Please notify any other delegates whom you
happen to know; we must get organized as soon as possible. Most Truly
Yours
P.S. There are plenty of men in the delegation from Minnesota, Michigan
and Wisconsin who think as we do.
1 1 6 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed l
New York, May 25, 1884
Dear Lodge, Many thanks for your kind note. Putnam2 is a trump, but on
politics — oh, heavens! Some of the papers have had a very amusing account
1 Louis Theodore Michener was secretary of the Republican State Committee of
Indiana, 1884-1886, chairman, 1889-1890, political manager for Benjamin Harrison,
1884-1892.
» Lodge, I, 2.
• George Haven Putnam, publisher, head of the firm of G. P. Putnam's Sons. Roose-
velt had purchased a partnership in this firm in 1883. In politics, Putnam was a
"reformer* with no clear-cut party affiliation. He worked with the Mugwumps in
the campaign of 1884.
of an imaginary dinner we gave to Edmunds, at which he treated us with
ferocious disdain, and made us leave his presence in crestfallen wrath — this
being advanced as an explanation of our alleged conduct in endeavoring to
"sell him out" for Lincoln.8 Truly, the liar is abroad in the land! Also the
crank.
I have written to the western Edmunds men, and to the Vermonters as
you wished. Most truly
I I 7 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed *
New York, May 26, 1884
Dear Lodge, For Heaven's sake don't let the Massachusetts delegation com-
mit any such act of suicidal folly as (from panic merely) supporting Arthur
would be. Arthur is the very weakest candidate we could nominate though,
as you know, I regard Elaine as even less desirable, on account of his decid-
edly mottled record. Arthur could not carry New York, Ohio or Indiana;
he would be beaten out of sight.
I agree with you that Elaine is still the most dangerous man; but he has
lost strength, and will not have more than three hundred votes, if as many.
I have tried my best to make the Times attack him; and I think it will now
but they regard Arthur as much more formidable; one reason they attack
Arthur so much more than Elaine is because they have heard that the Mas-
sachusetts men are merely Arthur delegates in disguise. Now, in trying to
avoid the Elaine devil, don't take a premature plunge into the Arthur deep
sea; I think we can keep clear of both; if we go to either we are lost. Yours
I I 8 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MsS.°
St. Paul, June 8, 1884
Darling Bysie, Many thanks for your sweet note. Can you tell Douglass to
get me files of the "Times" and "Sun" for the week ending June yth? Also
of the "Post." I would like to see them. I am now on my way to the Little
Missouri; I shall probably be back about July loth, but will write or tele-
graph to you before; perhaps I shall be back much earlier, as I intend to take
quite a long hunting trip this fall, there being now no necessity of my taking
part in the political campaign.
Well, the fight has been fought and lost, and moreover our defeat is an
overwhelming rout. Of all the men presented to the convention as presi-
dential candidates, I consider Elaine as by far the most objectionable, because
his personal honesty, as well as his faithfulness as a public servant, are both
'Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of War 1881-1885, min-
ister to Great Britain 1889-1893, later president of the Pullman Company.
1 Lodge, I, 2-3.
70
open to question; yet beyond a doubt he was opposed by many, if not most,
of the politicians and was the free choice of the great majority of the Repub-
lican voters of the northern states. That such should be the fact speaks badly
for the intelligence of the mass of my party, as well as for their sensitiveness
to the honesty and uprightness of a public official, and bodes no good for
the future of the nation — though I am far from thinking that any very seri-
ous harm can result even from either of the two evils to which our choice is
now limited viz: — a democratic administration or four years of Elaine in the
White House. The country has stood a great deal in the past and can stand
a great deal more in the future. It is by no means the first time that a vast
popular majority has been on the side of wrong. It may be that "the voice of
the people is the voice of God" in fifty one cases out of a hundred; but in
the remaining forty nine it is quite as likely to be the voice of the devil, or,
what is still worse, the voice of a fool.
I am glad to have been present at the convention, and to have taken part
in its proceedings; it was a historic scene, and one of great, even if of some-
what sad, interest. Speaking roughly the forces were divided as follows:
Elaine 340, Arthur 280, Edmunds 95, Logan 60, Sherman 30, Hawley 15. But
the second choice of all of the Logan and Sherman and of nearly half the
Arthur men, was Elaine, which made it absolutely impossible to form a
combination against him. Arthurs vote was almost entirely from office hold-
ers, coming mainly from the south, and from the great cities of the north.
Except among a few of the conservative business men he had absolutely no
strength at all with the people. The votes for Logan, Sherman and Hawley
represented nothing but the fact that Illinois, Ohio and Connecticut each
had a "favorite son." The Edmunds vote represented the majority of the
Republicans of New England, and a very respectable minority in New York,
New Jersey, and the three states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. It
included all the men of the broadest culture and highest character that there
were in the convention; all those who were prominent in the professions or
eminent as private citizens; and it included almost all the "plain people," the
fanners and others, who were above the average, who were possessed of a
keen sense of personal and official honesty, and who were accustomed to
think for themselves.
Blaines adherents included the remainder, the vast majority of those from
the middle and eastern states, and some from New England. These were the
men who make up the mass of the party. Their ranks included many scoun-
drels, adroit and clever, who intend to further their own ends by supporting
the popular candidate, or who know Mr Elaine so well that they expect
under him to be able to develope their schemes to the fullest extent; but for
the most part these Republicans were good, ordinary men, who do not do
very much thinking, who are pretty honest themselves, but who are callous
to any but very flagrant wrongdoing in others, unless it is brought home to
them most forcibly, who "do'n't think Elaine any worse than the rest of
7'
them," and who are captivated by the man's force, originality and brilliant
demagoguery.
About all the work in the convention that was done against him was
done by Cabot Lodge and myself, who pulled together and went in for all
we were worth. We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat
the Elaine nominee for temporary chairman, who was also supported by the
Logan men. To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy, and
we were up all night in arranging our forces so as to get the different fac-
tions to come in to line together to defeat the common foe. Many of our men
were very timid; so we finally took the matter into our own hands and
forced the fighting, when of course our allies had to come into line behind
us. White, Curtis and Wadsworth1 were among the weak kneed ones; but
when we got in Curtis made a good speech for us. I also made a short speech,
which was listened to very attentively and was very well received by the
delegates, as well as the outsiders; it was the first time I had ever had the
chance of speaking to ten thousand people assembled together.
Some of the nominating speeches were very fine, notably that of Gov-
ernor Long of Massachusetts,2 which was the most masterly and scholarly
effort I have ever listened to. Elaine was nominated by Judge West, the blind
orator of Ohio. It was a most impressive scene. The speaker, a feeble old
man of shrunk but gigantic frame, stood looking with his sightless eyes to-
wards the vast throng that filled the huge hall. As he became excited his voice
rang like a trumpet, and the audience became worked up to a condition of
absolutely uncontrollable excitement and enthusiasm. For a quarter of an
hour at a time they cheered and shouted so that the brass bands could not
be heard at all, and we were nearly deafened by the noise.
Tell Uncle Jimmie that I may write to him to send me out money for
my cattle ranche to the German American Bank, St. Paul; and if Chas. P.
Miller wishes two thousand dollars he is to have it. Yours always
I I 9 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed X
Little Missouri, Dakota, June 17, 1884
My dear Lodge, Having been off on a four days hunt after antelope I have
but just received your telegram. The despatch to the Post was simply a flat
denial of the authority of my alleged interview, which some newspaper cor-
1 Andrew Dickson White; George William Curtis, author, orator, editor of Harper's
Weekly, early and influential advocate of civil service reform, president of the
National Civil Service Reform League; James Wolcott Wadsworth, longtime Re-
publican congressman (1881-1885, 1891-1907) from Geneseo, New York.
'John Davis Long, Secretary of the Navy, 1897-1902, under whom Roosevelt
served as Assistant Secretary in 1897-1898.
1 Lodge, I, 3.
72
respondent has made up out of the whole cloth.2 1 am absolutely ignorant of
what has been said or done since the convention, as I have been away from
all newspapers for ten days.
I hope soon to be back when I will see you and decide with you as to
what we can do. I think Dakotah is my hold for this autumn. If ours always
12O • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoitileS MSS.°
Little Missouri, Dakota, June 17, 1884
Darling Bysie, I hope you got my letter about the convention; it was a long
one for me. Here my opportunities for writing are limited; so show this to
Elliott and Douglass, both of whom have written me. I was very glad to get
your letters. The "interview" in the St Pauls despatch was made up out of
the whole cloth; it was very annoying; I had not spoken a dozen words to
any reporter.
Well, I have been having a glorious time here, and am well hardened now
(I have just come in from spending thirteen hours in the saddle). For every
day I have been here I have had my hands full. First and foremost, the cattle
have done well, and I regard the outlook for making the business a success
as being very hopeful. This winter I lost about 25 head, from wolves, cold
etc; the others are in admirable shape, and I have about a hundred and fifty
five calves. I shall put on a thousand more cattle and shall make it my regular
business. In the autumn I shall bring out Seawall and Dow1 and put them
on a ranche with very few cattle to start with, and in the course of a couple
of years give them quite a little herd also.
I have never been in better .health than on this trip. I am in the saddle
all day long either taking part in the round up of the cattle, or else hunting
antelope (I got one the other day; another good head for our famous hall at
Leeholm). I am really attached to my two "factors," Ferris and Merrifield;2
they are very fine men.
a Immediately after the convention, although he made it clear that he was dissatis-
fied with the nomination, Roosevelt gave no indication as to whether or not he would
support Blaine. As he had been identified with the opposition, rumors that he would
join or initiate an independent movement were plentiful. On June 10 a newspaper
interview from St. Paul appeared which quoted Roosevelt as saying: "The platform
is an admirable one. . . . filaine is the choice of two-thirds of the rank and file of
the party. I shall bolt the nomination of the Convention by no means. ... I have
been called a reformer but I am a Republican." Some independent newspapers were
disinclined to believe this interview. The New York Evening Post telegraphed to
Roosevelt for confirmation. He replied in the Post on June 12: "To my knowledge
have had no interview for publication. Never said anything like what you report."
On July 19, in Boston, he first publicly endorsed the Republican ticket.
1 Wilmot S. Dow, nephew of William Sewall.
•Sylvane M. Ferris, partner with Roosevelt in the i88o's in both the Maltese Cross
and Elkhorn Ranches, delegate from South Dakota in the Progressive Convention
of 1912; Arthur W. Merrifield, original owner, with Sylvane and Joe Ferris, of the
ranch at Medora, and foreman of the ranch in partnership with Roosevelt, later
United States marshal of Montana.
73
The country is growing on me, more and more; it has a curious, fantastic
beauty of its own; and as I own six or eight horses I have a fresh one every
day and ride on a lope all day long. How sound I do sleep at night now!
There is not much game however; the cattle men have crowded it out and
only a few antelope and deer remain. I have shot a few jackrabbits and cur-
lews, with the rifle; and I also killed eight rattlesnakes.8
Tomorrow my two men go east for the cattle; and I will start out alone
to try my hand at finding my way over the prairie by myself. I intend to
take a two months trip in the Fall, for hunting, and may, as politics look
now, stay away over Election day; so I shall return now very soon, probably
leaving here in a week. I shall go on to Chestnut Hill at once, as the latter
part of my stay I would rather spend in New York; if I telegraph to you
can you not have Douglass send on my cart, (your) horse and man to the
Hill, so as to get there before me? Give my best love to all, and especially
to your own dear self. Your loving brother
P.S. Tell Nell I am delighted to hear that he has settled so well in business.
I 2 I • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE ' Printed 1
Little Missouri, Dakota, June 18, 1884
My dear Lodge, I have just received your long and welcome letter; my brief
note of yesterday was sent before I had received it. I am now writing under
difficulties, being in the cattlemen's hut, and having just spent thirteen hours
in the saddle.
The St. Paul "Interview" was absolutely without foundation in fact; I
had not spoken a dozen words to any reporter; my telegrams to the "Post"
merely contained an explicit denial of its authenticity.
I allowed myself to be interviewed in St. Paul for the purpose of giving
a rap to the Post; but to my regret the cream of the interview does not seem
to have been copied in the Eastern papers. I thought I would touch up God-
kin2 and Sedgwick8 a little.
a The months Roosevelt spent in the Bad Lands, his ranching and hunting, and the
society in which he lived, have been well described in Roosevelt, Autobiography,
Nat. Ed. XX, ch. iv; Hunting Trips of a Ranchman (New York, 1885; Nat. Ed. I);
Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail (New York, 1888; Nat. Ed. I); The Wilderness
Hunter (New York, 1893; Nat. Ed. H); Hermann Hagedorn, Roosevelt in the Bad
Lands (Boston, 1921); and Lincoln Alexander Lang, Ranching with Roosevelt
(Philadelphia, 1926). Ray H. Mattison's "Roosevelt and the Stockmen's Associa-
tion," which will be published in the April and July, 1950, issues of North Dakota
History, contains illuminating material on that phase of Roosevelt's life.
1 Lodge, I, 3-4.
'Edwin Lawrence Godkin, journalist, first editor of the Nation, 1865-1881; editor-
in-chief of the New York Evening Post, 1883-1900. Under his leadership, the Post
was a militant paper, an ardent, sometimes irresponsible crusader for political piety
and free trade. Godkin himself moved as much in literary as in political circles.
'Arthur George Sedgwick, assistant editor of the Nation and of the Evening Post.
74
You are pursuing precisely the proper course; do not answer any assaults
unless it is imperatively necessary; keep on good terms with the machine, and
put in every ounce, to win. Certainly the Independents have little cause to
congratulate themselves on a candidate of Cleveland's moral character; with
Barnum4 to manage his canvass, and Hendricks5 to carry behind. The veto
of the Tenure-of-Office Bill e was inexcusable; I have written a letter to a
fellow Assemblyman (Hubbell)7 about it, which I think will be published
shortly in the Tribune. I shall be east about a week after you get this letter,
and shall write you immediately, as I wish to see you at once; I am very
anxious you should take no steps hastily, for I do not know a man in the
country whose future I regard as so promising as is yours; and I would not
for anything have you do a single thing that could hurt it, unless it was a
question of principle, when of course I should not advise you to hesitate for
a moment.
With warmest regards to Mrs. Lodge,8 believe me, Always yours
P.S. — I have not seen a newspaper since I left Chicago.
122 ' TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, July 28, 1884
My dear Lodge, I was very glad indeed to hear from you; Mrs. Lodge and
yourself must make us a visit next winter; my sister is as anxious as I am to
have you.
I did not have a chance to see either Sedgwick or Godkin; I wrote Put-
nam and incidentally asked him to give my compliments to either or both
of the gentlemen named, and to tell them from me that I thought they were
suffering just at present from a species of moral myopia, complicated with
intellectual strabismus. Most of my friends seem surprised to find that I have
not developed hoofs and horns; the independents are rapidly cultivating the
* William Henry Barnum, senator from Connecticut 1876-1879; chairman of the
Democratic National Executive Committee 1880-1884.
8 Thomas Andrews Hendricks, Cleveland's running mate. He had been Governor of
Indiana and senator from that state. During his senatorial term he had won promi-
nence as a constant critic of the Republican administration. He was believed to be
"acceptable to the machine faction" of the party.
8 The Tenure-of-Office Bill, introduced in the New York Legislature by Roosevelt,
authorized the mayor of New York to appoint the register of cteeds and commissioner
of public works. The bill aimed particularly at the displacement of Hubert O.
Thompson, who, as commissioner of public works, had been indicted for corruption,
yet still retained his office. Roosevelt's bill was vetoed by Cleveland; Thompson was
a prominent Cleveland Democrat.
7 See Roosevelt to Hubbell, August 14, 1884, No. 124, below.
8 Anna Cabot Mills (Davis) Lodge, wife of Henry Cabot Lodge, the brilliant, witty
daughter of Rear Admiral Charles Henry Davis. She is frequently referred to in
later correspondence as Nannie.
75
belief that the Utica Convention was really gotten up in the interest of
Elaine; and that you and I are, with Elkins,2 his chief advisers.
I have received shoals of letters, pathetic and abusive, to which I have
replied with vivacity or ferocity, according to the circumstances of the case.
The bolt is very large among the dudes and the Germans; how large the
corresponding bolt among the labouring men is I can not now tell.
Keep straight on; get out of the committee as soon as it is in decent work-
ing order; don't answer any attacks, and work every line for success.
Remember me most warmly to Mrs. Lodge. Always your friend
I23'TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Little Missouri, Dakota, August 12, 1884
My dear Lodge, I was very glad to hear from you, and was greatly amused
over the slip from the Advertiser; you know that the Boston Independents
circulated through New York the idea that I was a misguided weakling, who
would have liked to be honest, but who was held in moral thralldom by the
unscrupulous machine-manipulator of Nahant. Unless I get caught by some
accident in the Bighorn I shall be on hand to do what I can, on the stump or
otherwise. By the way, if Cleveland does not remove Davidson,2 the mis-
carriage of Justice will be, though less in degree, even greater in kind, than
was the case with the Star Route thieves, and the only possible explanation
will be that Cleveland is willing to pardon malfeasance in office on the part
of a public official, in consideration of political service rendered him by the
latter. I say this deliberately, and after careful thought. It must be remem-
bered that the previous trial and acquittal of Davidson has no bearing what-
ever on the case, for he was indicted on a number of very trivial points, none
of which were even alluded to in our report; while none of the counts on
which we ask his removal were touched upon in the indictment, which
would almost seem to have been so carelessly drawn up as to ensure David-
son's acquittal and a resulting effect on the public mind in his favor.
'Stephen Benton Elkins, a close friend of Elaine, Secretary of War, 1891-1893,
senator from West Virginia, 1895-1911.
1 Lodge, I, 5-7.
8 Alexander V. Davidson, sheriff of New York County and head of Irving HaU (the
Brooklyn counterpart of Tammany), had supported Cleveland for the presidential
nomination. After a long investigation the Assembly Committee on Cities had
charged Davidson with misconduct in office on six specifications. In a letter accom-
panying the charges and evidence, Roosevelt, as chairman of the committee, wrote
Cleveland: "So gross are these irregularities, so deficient does the Sheriff appear in
even the lowest sense of responsibility which should characterize a public officer,
that the Committee deems it its duty to prefer against the Sheriff . . . specific
charges of malversation and neglect of duty in office, and if the charges are found
to be sustained by the evidence, to demand the dismissal of the Sheriff from office"
(New York Commercial Advertiser, June 3, 1884). Cleveland, however, took no
action on the case.
If the Sheriff is acquitted, you are welcome to use the above as you see
fit — quoting it entire, as coming from me if you choose. Between ourselves,
the indictment was drawn up by the District Attorney, a county Democrat,
one of Cleveland's appointees, so as to ensure Davidson's acquittal. It was
ridiculous on its face. I have rarely been more pleased by anything than I
was by your pleasant words of friendship for me; for two or three years I
have felt that you were one of "the" very few men whom I really desired
to know as a friend; and I have never been able to work so well with any
body before.
I agree with you heartily in thinking that, unless very good cause — more
than we now know — can be shown, we can take part in no bolt; but I do not
think we need take any active part in the campaign, and before you decide
to do so, old fellow, I wish you would think the whole matter over very
seriously. It is impossible for me to say that I consider Elaine and Logan as
fit nominees, or proper persons to fill the offices of President and Vice Presi-
dent— and unless the Democratic nominees are hopelessly bad I should not
think it probable that I would take any part whatever in the campaign —
indeed I may be in Dakotah on election day.
In a day or two I start out, with two hunters, six riding ponies and a
canvas topped "prairie schooner" for the Bighorn Mountains. You would
be amused to see me, in my broad sombrero hat, fringed and beaded buck-
skin shirt, horse hide chaparajos or riding trousers, and cowhide boots, with
braided bridle and silver spurs. I have always liked "horse and rifle," and
being, like yourself, "ein echter Amerikaner," prefer that description of sport
which needs a buckskin shirt to that whose votaries adopt the red coat. A
buffalo is nobler game than an anise seed bag, the Anglomaniacs to the con-
trary notwithstanding.
Do write me once or twice again; I am very anxious to hear how things
go with you. Remember me most warmly to your wife. Always yours
124 • TO WALTER SAGE HUBBELL Printed1
Little Missouri, Dakota, August 14, 1884
Dear Sir: I have just seen your letter, dated July 26, in The New York
Tribune, and I wish to corroborate, with all possible emphasis, what you
wrote in relation to the work of last year's Republican Legislature. Every
reform measure was put through only by receiving the cordial support of
the great bulk of the Republicans and in spite of the most determined oppo-
sition on the part of the Democrats. The Aldermanic bill, for example, was
absolutely non-partisan in character. Indeed if anything, it bore most heavily
against the Republican party, whose stronghold in New York City has been
in the Board of Aldermen, through which alone for the most part have
Republicans in the past been able to obtain local office. Yet in spite of this,
*New York Tribune, August 23, 1884.
77
58 Republicans and but 12 Democrats were recorded in the affirmative on
the final passage of the bill. So with the bills reported by the special investi-
gating committee in relation to the County offices. Too much praise cannot
be given to Messrs. Nelson2 and Welch, the two Democratic members of
that committee, for their conduct while upon it; but when the bills were
brought into the House their fellow Democrats almost to a man opposed
the measures, and on more than one occasion they were the only two Demo-
cratic votes recorded in favor of the bills, while, on the other hand, all of the
Republicans, with half a dozen exceptions, did what they could to assist in
their passage. Governor Cleveland certainly shines by comparison with the
Democratic members of the Legislature; but it must be remembered that he
simply assented to what had been previously carefully worked out by the
Republican Senate and Assembly. It is much easier to ratify than to origi-
nate, especially if the ratification is but partial.
But two of the reform bills were at all partisan in their character. One
was the Bureau of Elections Bill, which affected a Republican. The other
was the Tenure of Office bill, where the chief official affected was a Demo-
crat. Of course in passing these two bills, I had to rely mainly upon Demo-
cratic votes in the first case, and upon Republican votes in the second. Only
five Democrats voted for the Tenure of Office bill, while twenty-eight Re-
publicans voted aye when the Bureau of Elections bill was up; and the latter
only failed because barely half the Democrats were recorded in its favor.
For the Democrats can be trusted to invariably walk in the darkness even
when to walk in the light would be manifestly to their advantage.
I do not seek to palliate the conduct of the Republican Legislature in not
passing this bill; its defeat was due to purblind partisanship, and the Repub-
lican Assembly deserved, and received, severe censure for its conduct; but
an even greater meed of blame should be awarded to Grover Cleveland for
his action in not signing the Tenure of Office bill. I have carefully read his
message giving his reasons for not allowing this measure to become a law;
they certainly seem to me to be frivolous; and it is difficult to believe that
they were offered in good faith, and that the bill would not have been signed
if it had hurt only a Republican or a Tammany chief, and not the powerful
leader of the County Democracy. It is sheer nonsense to say that the amend-
ment offered and adopted in the House hurt the bill; on the contrary it
improved it. Several of us opposed its adoption, but simply because we, as
it proved wrongly, feared that its adoption would make the bill so good as
to jeopardize its passage at that late day of the session; it being a common
legislative trick to make a bill so sweepingly perfect as to insure its ultimate
death.
The Aldermanic bill was robbed of most of its immediate importance
when the Tenure of Office bill failed; its effects cannot now be much felt
for a couple of years. Such being the case, the measure should certainly not
•Hartford D. Nelson, Democratic assemblyman from Otsego County.
78
have been killed on account of trifling verbal inaccuracies. The Governor
had previously returned six of the other municipal reform measures for
verbal correction; but as it turned out, most of the errors to which he called
attention were in those portions of the bills which merely recited, without
change or amendment, the original law which had been on the statute book
for years, and with which our measures had really nothing to do. I therefore
had them returned to the Governor forthwith, four of them without change,
and the others with slight and unimportant verbal alterations.
In 1883 the Democrats had possession of both Assembly and Senate.
Speaker Chapin, in his opening address, said that the opportunity of that
session would be found in the work of municipal reform; and Governor
Cleveland in his first message also called attention to the subject as being one
of immediate and pressing importance. Nevertheless the Democrats failed
absolutely in their efforts to solve the problem; and what the Democratic
Legislature of 1883 failed to do the Republican Legislature of 1884 did, and
did well; although part of their good work was rendered of no avail by the
action of the Democratic Governor. Governor Cleveland deserves great
credit for the courage and honesty he displayed in some of his official acts;
notably when he vetoed the Five-Cent Fare bill;3 but the chief credit for the
reform measures of last year belongs to the Republican Legislature, and not
to him; and while the former must bear the blame of failing to pass the
Bureau of Elections bill, on the Governor alone rests the responsibility for
the failure of the infinitely more important Tenure of Office bill.
There is an old Latin proverb to the effect that among the blind the one-
eyed is king; certainly most Democrats are blind; and I am bound to confess
that there are quite a number of Republicans who are, to say the least, very
nearsighted; but neither of these facts warrants us in stating that Governor
Cleveland has two eyes, without much better proof than is afforded by his
conduct in relation to the municipal reform bills at the close of the last ses-
sion. Very truly yours
I 2 5 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed x
Powder River, Montana, August 24, 1884
My dear Lodge, You must pardon the paper and general appearance of this
letter, as I am writing out in camp, a hundred miles or so from any house;
and indeed whether this letter is, or is not, ever delivered depends partly on
Providence, and partly on the good will of an equally inscrutable personage,
either a cowboy or a horse thief, whom we have just met, and who has volun-
teered to post it — my men are watching him with anything but friendly
eyes, as they think he is going to try to steal our ponies. (To guard against
'Cleveland vetoed a bill lowering the elevated-railway fare from ten cents to five
cents; it was, he said, a violation of the state's charter contract with the companies.
1 Lodge, 1,7-9.
79
this possibility he is to sleep between my foreman and myself — delectable
bed-fellow he'll prove, doubtless.)
I have no particular excuse for writing, beyond the fact that I would
give a good deal to have a talk with you over political matters, just now. I
heartily enjoy this life, with its perfect freedom, for I am very fond of
hunting, and there are few sensations I prefer to that of galloping over these
rolling, limitless prairies, rifle in hand, or winding my way among the barren,
fantastic and grimly picturesque deserts of the so-called Bad Lands; and
yet I can not help wishing I could be battling along with you, and I can not
regret enough the unfortunate turn in political affairs that has practically
debarred me from taking any part in the fray. I have received fifty different
requests to speak in various places — among others, to open the campaign in
Vermont and Minnesota. I am glad I am not at home; I get so angry with
the "mugwumps," and get to have such scorn and contempt for them, that
I know I would soon be betrayed into taking some step against them, and
in favor of Elaine, much more decided than I really ought to take. At any
rate I can oppose Cleveland with a very clear conscience. I wonder what he
will do about Davidson.
By the way, did I tell you about my cowboys reading and in large part
comprehending, your "Studies in History"? My foreman handed the book
back to me today, after reading the "Puritan Pepys," remarking meditatively,
and with, certainly, very great justice, that early Puritanism "must have been
darned rough on the kids." He evidently sympathized keenly with the feel-
ings of the poor little "examples of original sin."
I do not at all agree with The Atlantic Monthly critic in thinking that the
volume would have been better if you had omitted the three essays dealing
more especially with English subjects. Puritanism left if anything a more last-
ing impress upon America than upon England; the history of its rise, and
especially of its fall, has quite as direct a bearing upon the development of
New England as a province, and afterwards of the United States as a nation,
as it has upon the development of latter-day Britain. Cobbett's visit to Amer-
ica gives us a vivid glimpse of a very curious phase of our early national
existence, while a close and accurate knowledge of the England in which the
younger Fox played so prominent a part is absolutely essential to the students
of American affairs. Your view of George III is certainly a novel one; I think
it very true, as regards the moral side of his character; but do you not think
he 'was a stupid man, in spite of his low, treacherous cunning? Have you had
time yet to read Lecky's History of England in the i8th Century? (You've
been pretty busy in politics for the last year or two, or I would not ask the
question.) I have a good deal of admiration for his account of the Revolu-
tionary war.
Now, for a little criticism on a wholly trivial point. Do you not think
you do Cornwallis a great injustice in lumping him with the British imbeciles
who commanded with him in that war? His long campaign in the southern
80
states, in which he marched and countermarched from Virginia to Georgia
through the midst of a bitterly hostile population, and in the course of which
he again and again defeated in the open field superior forces of American
troops, led by our best commanders, and often largely composed of the ex-
cellent continental soldiery — this campaign, I think, was certainly creditable
to him; and his being hemmed in and forced to surrender to greatly superior
forces at Yorktown was entirely Clinton's fault, and not at all his own. I
believe Washington was, not even excepting Lincoln, the very greatest man
of modern times; and a great general, of the Fabian order, too, but on the
battle field I doubt if he equalled any one of half a dozen of the Union and
Rebel chiefs who fought in the great Civil War.
Sometimes I think that your diagnosis of the Whig party under Walpole
would apply pretty well to the Republican party, and to the condition of
public opinion that rendered Elaine's nomination possible; but I regard refor-
mation as being quite as impossible to expect from the Democrats as it would
have been in England to expect it from the Jacobites; all the good elements
have their greatly preponderant representation in the Republican Party. Ex-
cuse this rambling scrawl. Remember me to Mrs. Lodge. Always Yours
I 2 6 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Fort McKinney, Wyoming, September 20, 1884
Darling Bysie, For once I have made a very successful hunting trip; I have
just come out of the mountains and will start at once for the Little Missouri,
which I expect to reach in a fortnight, and a week afterwards will be on my
way home. I hope to hear from you there.
It took sixteen days travelling (during which I only killed a few bucks)
before I reached the foot of the snow capped Bighorn range; we then left our
wagon and went into the mountains with pack ponies, and as I soon shot all
the kinds of game the mountains afforded, I came out after two weeks, dur-
ing which time I killed three grizzly bear, six elk (three of them have mag-
nificent heads and will look well in the "house on the hill") and as many
deer, grouse and trout as we needed for the table; after the first day I did not
shoot any cow or calf elk, or any deer at all, except one buck that had un-
usual antlers; — for I was more anxious for the quality than for the quantity
of my bag. I have now a dozen good heads for the hall. Merrifield killed two
bears and three elk; he has been an invaluable guide for game, and of course
the real credit for the bag rests with him, for he found most of the animals.
But I really shot well this time.
We met a heard of a dozen parties either of English or Eastern amateurs,
or of professional hunters, who were on the mountain at the same time we
were; but not one of them had half the success I had. This was mainly be-
cause they hunted on horseback, much the easiest and least laborious way,
while Merrifield and I, in our moccasins and buckskin suits hunted almost
81
every day on foot, following the game into the deepest and most inaccessible
ravines. Then again, most of them would only venture to attack the grizzly
bears if they found them in the open, or if there were several men together,
while we followed them into their own chosen haunts, and never but one of
us shot at a bear. Merrifield, indeed, who is a perfectly fearless and reckless
man, has no more regard for a grizzly than he has for a jack rabbit; the last
one we killed he wished to merely break his leg with the first shot "so as to
see what he'd do." I had not atall this feeling, and fully realized that we were
hunting dangerous game; still I never made steadier shooting than at the
grizzlies. I shall not soon forget the first one I killed. We had found where
he had been feeding on the carcass of an elk; and followed his trail into a
dense pine forest, fairly choked with fallen timber. While noiselessly and
slowly threading our way through the thickest part of it I saw Merrifield,
who was directly ahead of me, sink suddenly to his knees and turn half
round, his face fairly ablaze with excitement. Cocking my rifle and stepping
quickly forward, I found myself face to face with the great bear, who was
less than twenty five feet off — not eight steps. He had been roused from his
sleep by our approach; he sat up in his lair, and turned his huge head slowly
towards us. At that distance and in such a place it was very necessary to kill
or disable him at the first fire; doubtless my face was pretty white, but the
blue barrel was as steady as a rock as I glanced along it until I could see
the top of the bead fairly between his two sinister looking eyes; as I pulled
the trigger I jumped aside out of the smoke, to be ready if he charged; but it
was needless, for the great brute was struggling in the death agony, and, as
you will see when I bring home his skin, the bullet hole in his skull was as
exactly between his eyes as if I had measured the distance with a carpenters
rule. This bear was nearly nine feet long and weighed over a thousand
pounds. Each of my other bears, which were smaller, needed two bullets
apiece; Merrifield killed each of his with a single shot.
I had grand sport with the elk too, and the woods fairly rang with my
shouting when I brought down my first lordly bull, with great branching
* antlers; but after I had begun bear killing other sport seemed tame.
So I have had good sport; and enough excitement and fatigue to prevent
over much thought; and moreover I have at last been able to sleep well at
night. But unless I was bear hunting all the time I am afraid I should soon get
as restless with this life was with the life at home.
I shall be very, very glad to see you all again. I hope Mousiekins will be
very cunning; I shall dearly love her.
I suppose all of our friends the unco' good are as angry as ever with me;
they had best not express their discontent to my face unless they wish to hear
very plain English. I am sorry my political career should be over, but after
all it makes very little difference.
If any Englishman named Farquahr, Lee or Grenfell calls get Douglass
or Elliott to do anything they can for them; I met them hunting. Tell Doug-
lass to write me when the last day of registry comes Your Loving Brother
82
I 2 7 • TO WILLIAM WARLAND CLAPP Printed 1
Boston, October 20, 1884
[Sir:] I have just this moment seen a letter to "The New-York Times" from
Horace White, containing what purports to be a private conversation with
myself, held five months ago, at midnight, in a Chicago hotel.2 Under ordi-
nary circumstances I should not deem it necessary to take any notice of the
publication of such a private conversation, nor shall I now comment upon the
propriety of the act; but when the alleged conversation is so garbled that
I utterly fail to recognize my own words, I feel obliged to make a brief reply.
At midnight, two hours after the convention had adjourned, when I was
savagely indignant at our defeat, and heated and excited with the sharpness of
the struggle, I certainly felt bitterly angry at the result, and so expressed
myself in private conversation to two or three gentlemen, such as Cabot
Lodge, Andrew D. White and Horace White; but I fully realized that I did
not wish to commit myself in the excitement of the moment, and therefore
positively refused to say anything in public or to any newspaper until I had
carefully considered the matter. When I had done so, I announced my con-
clusion. I never advised what course "The Post" should pursue, nor did I
use the words that Mr. White attributes to me, nor any like them. I knew
that the action of "The Post," professedly an Independent and not a Repub-
lican paper, would be guided by different principles from those that I would
follow.
In conclusion, allow me to say that the only reason I used Mr. White's
name in my Brooklyn speech was because I wished to show that I did not
sympathize with the attacks some of my Republican friends had made upon
the motive of the Independents and instanced Mr. Schurz, Mr. Curtis and
Mr. White, as being men whose names were a sufficient guarantee of the good
faith with which they acted; and I am sorry, on Mr. White's own account,
that he should have permitted himself to take such an action as that he has
taken in sending his communication to "The Times." Yours truly
128 • TO FRANCIS MARKOE SCOTT Printed1
Boston, October 30, 1884
Dear Sir: I am with you heart and soul in your effort to elect Mr. Grace
Mayor on a non-partisan citizens' ticket, and I most earnestly hope and be-
1 Boston Journal, October 21, 1884. William Warland Clapp, editor of the Boston
Journal, 1865-1891, was a staunch Republican.
1 Horace White, economist, historian, and political reformer, was then on the staff
of the New York Evening Post; later, 1899, editor-in-chief of that paper. Replying
to Roosevelt's criticism of the Mugwumps, White had contended that Roosevelt,
immediately after Blaine's nomination, told him that Cleveland was the most proper
Democratic nominee and would have his "hearty support."
1 This letter is from an unidentified clipping in one of Roosevelt's scrapbooks. Francis
Markoe Scott was a New York City lawyer, chairman of the Citizens' Executive
Committee, a Tilden and Cleveland Democrat in national affairs, and later, while
Roosevelt was police commissioner, corporation counsel of New York City.
lieve that every straightforward and honest Republican will recognize the
fact that the so-called Republican county ticket is a mere ticket of straw,
put up by the Republican machine ring in the interest of Tammany Hall, and
that the candidates upon it are either men totally unfit to occupy positions
of trust or else figureheads simply put up for the purpose of being knocked
down. The course of the Republican county machine shows beyond doubt
that it is not only absolutely indifferent to the welfare of the city as a whole,
but also that it is behaving with the grossest treachery to the best interests of
the Republican party.2
The Mayoralty contest has narrowed down to one between the candidate
of the citizens and the candidate of Tammany Hall, and I call upon every
honest Republican who may be, like myself, a most ardent supporter of the
Republican national nominees, to sink all questions of partisanship as regards
the local ticket and to cast his vote in the only way in which it can be cast
if he is sincerely desirous of seeing a clean administration of municipal affairs
during the next two years. No man can be more heartily a Republican than
I am upon national issues, but national politics should in no sense enter into
the Mayoralty contest. It is a simple question of the servants of the city
conducting the business of the city according to the rules of common honesty
and common efficiency; Mr. Grace's politics have no bearing whatever on
the matter. I do not care a snap of my finger whether, if elected, he will
appoint Democrats or Republicans to office — so long as he appoints upright
and capable men. We have once tried Mr. Grace and he has not been found
wanting. We have a right to believe that he will do as well in the future as
he has done in the past, and we have the most entire confidence that he will
make his administration a credit and an honor to the city.
The reform legislation of last winter did not give us good government, it
merely gave us what we did not have before — that is, a fighting chance to
obtain good government — and it will be a disgrace to us as citizens if we fail
to take advantage of the chance offered to us.
I know by practical experience that the condition of most of the depart-
ments of the municipal government is a crying shame and a scandal to the
city; and what we need more than anything else is to have a man at the head
of affairs who will treat the tumors of the body politic with the roughest and
most merciless surgery. We want a man who will put in the knife fearlessly,
and no man can do it whose hands are tied by political alliances with the very
worst elements of the city, and who is merely a puppet of the man and the
systems that constitute jointly the most serious menace to our well being as
a community. The creature of Tammany Hall must obey the behests of Tam-
many Hall. Nominally we live under a Republican form of government, but
practically we of New York have lived for the past few years under the rule
•Grace, who won the election, had the support of the County Democracy and
Irving Hall as well as of the Independents. Tammany nominated Hugh J. Grant.
Frederick S. Gibbs, candidate of the Republican organization, ran a poor third.
84
of an oligarchy composed of demagogues, office-holders and corrupt party
wirepullers. We have been under the rule of an aristocracy composed of the
worst instead of the best element, and kept in power by the plunder they
have wrung alike from the honest taxpayer and the honest workingman.
The success of the citizens' ticket will have a direct bearing upon the
moral welfare of the city as a whole and upon the physical welfare of every
man in it, and I hope that every honest man, no matter what his political
affiliations may be, will join hands with you for the one common object of
procuring a decent and clean municipal administration. Yours truly
129 • TO RICHARD ROGERS BOWKER R.M.A.
New York, October 31, 1 884
Dear Sir:1 I have just seen your letter of the 2jth in The Brooklyn Eagle.
I take this opportunity of briefly answering it.
I am informed by the President of the Young Republican Club that but
about five per cent of the members have left; and I have also been informed
that the way the list of bolters has been prepared, has been by sending out a
circular which stated in effect that the recipient would be considered a bolter
unless he sent word to the contrary. I suppose I need hardly point out the
gross impropriety of such an act, and the absolutely valueless nature of a list
so prepared.
You say you occupy the same position I "so strongly held during, and
some time after, the convention." You are greatly in error. During the con-
vention I actually did what you merely talked about doing; I worked prac-
tically to prevent Mr. Elaine's nomination; since the convention I have always
intended to vote the Republican ticket.
As you state, I believe that the present campaign can be decided upon
other issues than merely the personal characters of the candidates. I have
read the document you so courteously sent me, and I am struck by the fact
to which you allude, that your committee deprecates the introduction into
the campaign of personalities affecting their own candidate, which is but
natural. I have very little patience with a "moral issue" canvass, of which the
most salient feature is a frantic denial of the immorality of breaking the
seventh comment. I disagree with you in your estimate of the candidates.
You apparently think that the Democrats have always been wrong, but that
now, for some unknown reason, they really mean to do right; you are willing
to trust to present promise for good without heed to repeated past perform-
ances of evil; your faith is touching, but your judgment seems to me bad.
Your views as to the Solid South, the clearness of the Democratic platform,
etc. etc., are doubtless interesting, but seem to me to be at direct variance
1 Richard Rogers Bowker, editor of Publishers* Weekly, one of the original Mug-
wumps,
85
with the facts, and not particularly relevant to the matter of which you write.
As regards the tariff I am, as was my father (a life-long Republican) be-
fore me, a bit of a heretic when looked at with Republican eyes; but I cer-
tainly do not agree with the Democracy, and, had I been in Congress, should
have voted against the Morrison bill. You apparently consider that it is
better to dodge an issue, as Mr. Cleveland did this, than come out boldly one
way or the other, as did Mr. Elaine. I again disagree with you.
As regards Civil Service Reform, you doubtless wrote me the letter you
describe, but I happen to have totally forgotten it, as I had at the same time
some hundred odd others on the same subject from different people. Of
course, any movements in relation to the bill in the House had no reference
to the letters of outside parties, of which we received innumerable quantities.
The Republican minority by unanimous and concerted action fairly forced
the Democratic majority to pass the bill. The curious oversight you refer
to was made by the Democratic clerk and not by myself, as you would have
discovered had you read the journal of the day's proceedings in the Assembly.
Civil Service Reform is not safer in Mr. Cleveland's hands than in Mr. Elaine's,
as witness the recent case of Mr. Healy at Albany.
I have never hesitated to frankly give Governor Cleveland credit for his
action on the Five-cent Fare bill, and on the Municipal Reform bills which
affected Tammany and the Republicans; I have severely criticised his veto of
the Tenure of Office bill, (by die way, when you say that bill was "treacher-
ously botched in the Assembly you err, and merely show that you are un-
acquainted with its legislative history), and also his delay in acting on Sheriff
Davidson's case; mind you, I say delay, for I am not willing to believe it pos-
sible that there will be any such gross miscarriage of justice as would be the
case if the Sheriff were not eventually removed, as he ought to have been
months ago.
Your ask me if I believe that Mr. Cleveland ever truckled to politicians or
political gain in reference to legislation or appointments; I should certainly
not volunteer my own belief on the subject, but as you ask the question I
respond that I most emphatically do so believe.
I am perfectly certain that the question of administrative reform is not
yet settled, and that its settlement would be postponed ten years by the ad-
vent of the Democratic party to power.
I thank you for your good opinion of my past services, my power, if I
ever had any, may or may not be as utterly gone as you think; but most
certainly it would deserve to go if I yielded any more to the pressure of the
Independents at present, when I consider them to be wrong, than I yielded
in the past to the pressure of the machine, when I thought it wrong. Yours
truly
86
130 • TO CHARLES H. KNox Printed1
New York, October 31, 1884
Dear Mr. Knox: When I wrote my letter in relation to the county ticket I
was not aware of the changes that had been made in it. I shall support Mr.
Grace and some others of the Citizens' nominees, but I shall also do what I
can for the Republican Judiciary ticket and candidate for Controller. In
particular, if I can be of any service to you I hope you will call upon me.
Most truly yours
I 3 I • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed 1
New York, November 7, 1884
Dear old fellow, I just did not have the heart to write you before. It is simply
cruel; and I do not dare trust myself at present to speak to an Independent
on the subject; I wrote an open letter to Godkin but I tore it up afterwards;
we must not act rashly.2
Of course there seems no use of saying anything in the way of consola-
tion; and probably you feel as if your career had ended; that is not so: you
have certainly received a severe blow; but you would be astonished to know
the hold you have on the party at large; not a man in New York have I seen
(Republicans I mean, of course) who does not feel the most bitter indigna-
tion at your defeat. They will never forget you and come back in time you
must and will.
Now a word of advice; don't let the Independents see you express any
chagrin; be, as I know you will be, courageous, dignified, and above all good
tempered; make no attacks at present; at any rate write me first. This is
merely a check; it is in no sense a final defeat; and say nothing, even to the
fools who hurt you, without cool thought.
I wish I could be with you. It may be some comfort to know that the
Independents draw no distinction between your defeat and my retirement.
You have a hold on the party that I can not have; and beyond question you
will in time take the stand you deserve in public life.
Here everything is at sixes and sevens. I shall be happy if we get clear
without bloodshed; thanks to the cursed pharisaical fools and knaves who
have betrayed us.
Remember that your wife and yourself have promised to visit us this
winter. Always your friend
*New York Times, November 2, 1884. Charles H. Knox and Theron G. Strong
were the Republican candidates for judges of the Court of Common Pleas. Roose-
velt wrote a similar letter to Strong.
1 Lodge, I, 10.
'Lodge had been defeated in his campaign for Congress.
87
132 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, November 1 1, 1884
Dear Cabot, I am awfully sorry, but I shall in all probability be unable to get
back from the west until Xmas; can you not appoint some time in January
or February when Mrs. Lodge and yourself can come to stay with us? Any
time will suit us; but you must come. I really long to have a chance of talk-
ing with you.
I was very glad to receive your letter; and I can not say how glad I have
been to hear from all sides of the gallant front you showed in defeat. That the
blow is a serious one I do not pretend to deny; that it is necessarily fatal how-
ever I am far from admitting. The Republican party in Massachusetts will
not break up; it will remain the dominant party of the State; and it will feel
thoroughly that it owes its success in the immediate past more to you than
to any other one man, and that you have sacrificed yourself to save it; your
hold upon it — a hold gained not by one service, but by a long course of
services performed during a considerable space of time — is very strong; and
the party will, I think, next put you in a position where you can receive its
vote throughout the State.
Of course it may be that we have had our day; it is far more likely that
this is true in my case than in yours, for I have no hold on the party managers
in New York. Elaine's nomination meant to me pretty sure political death if
I supported him; this I realized entirely, and went in with my eyes open.
I have won again and again; finally chance placed me where I was sure to
lose whatever I did; and I will balance the last against the first. I have stood
a great deal; and now that the throw has been against me, I shall certainly not
complain. I have not believed and do not believe that I shall ever be likely
to come back into political life; we fought a good winning fight when our
friends the Independents were backing us; and we have both of us, when
circumstances turned them against us, fought the losing fight grimly out to
the end. What we have been cannot be taken from us; what we are is due to
the folly of others and to no fault of ours.
By the way, R. R. Bowker tackled me the other day; and I think I made
mince meat of him. Last night I lectured before the ipth Century Club. Now,
old fellow, I think the end with you is not yet reached; at least you have done
the right thing, and have done it manfully and bravely and in spite of the
pressure brought to bear on you; you have been really independent.
With warmest regards to Mrs. Lodge, I am, as ever Your friend
133 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Chimney Butte Ranch, Dakota, December 14, 1884
Darling Bysie, I have just received your telegram. I suppose that now the
article is too much a thing of the past to need an answer; but I am sorry I
1 Lodge, I, 25-27.
88
could not have countered on the hypocritical liars of the Post while the thing
was fresh.
I have just returned from a three days trip in the Bad Lands after moun-
tain sheep; and after tramping over the most awful country that can be imag-
ined I finally shot a young ram with a fine head; I have now killed every
kind of plains game. I have to stay here till after next Friday to attend a
meeting of the Little Missouri stockmen; on Saturday the 2oth I start home,
and shall be in New York the evening of the 23d. I have just had 52 ponies
brought in by Ferris, and Seawall and Dow started down the river with
their share yesterday. The latter have lost two horses; I am afraid they have
been stolen.
Best love to Baby Lee, Your Aff Brother
P.S. Will you get me some Xmas present for Pussie? The others are all
right.
134 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, March 8, 1885
Dear Cabot: I have just sent my last roll of manuscript to the printer, and so
have a little leisure time. I am very much pleased with the first volume of
Hamilton,2 it is gotten up in just the proper style; the preface reads admirably.
Altogether it is a piece of work with which you have a genuine right to be
satisfied.
In a fortnight I shall go out West; my book8 will be out before I return.
The pictures will be excellent — as for the reading matter, I am a little
doubtful.
Certainly in politics we have reached a stage that can best be described
as the Apotheosis of the Unknown; Cleveland's cabinet is respectable, except
the two New York secretaries, one of whom has nothing to commend him,
and the other everything that should disqualify him. Lt. Gov. Hill * has kept
in Davidson; with the adroitness that has of late years marked all the opera-
tions of the Cleveland-Manning5 machine he published his letter refusing to
turn him out at the time of the inauguration when every one's attention was
so taken up with the latter that very little hostile criticism was made. Of
course the ultra "Independents" (heavens! what a misnomer) highly approve
of it. I wonder if Thompson will get anything?
1 Lodge, I, 27-28.
a Henry Cabot Lodge, ed., The Works of Alexander Hamilton (New York, 1885-
1886).
8 Hunting Trips of a Ranchman.
* David Bennett Hill, Governor of New York, 1885-1891; senator from New York,
1892-1897. For twenty years after his term as governor he was the boss of the Demo-
cratic machine in the state.
"Daniel Manning, Secretary of the Treasury, 1885-1887; former chairman of the
New York State Democratic Committee; lieutenant of Samuel J. Tilden. Cleveland's
nominations to the governorship and to the Presidency have been attributed largely
to Manning; he was given the Treasury at Tilden's request.
89
Every now and then I meet an Independent who, taking it for granted
that you and I were actuated by selfish motives, points out how much better
for ourselves we would have done to have bolted. I always surprise him by
saying that we have always been very well aware of that fact, and knew
perfectly well that we had been pretty effectually killed as soon as Elaine
was nominated. If our consciences would have permitted it I have not the
slightest doubt that by bolting we could have done an immense amount for
ourselves, and would have won a commanding position — at the cost, per-
fectly trivial in true Mugwump eyes, of black treachery to all our warmest
and truest supporters and also at the cost of stultifying ourselves as regards
all of our previous declarations in respect to the Democracy.
The other night I spoke at the Harvard dinner; got along very fairly, the
rest of the company being mugwump however. My wrath still burns hot
against Godkin.
Remember me most warmly to Mrs. Lodge. Faithfully yours
I 3 5 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed l
Medora, Dakota, May 15, 1885
Dear Cabot: I was delighted to see your familiar handwriting again; many
thanks for the newspaper clipping; there is no need to remind me of my
promised visit to you, for you may be sure I shall not forget it. As yet, how-
ever, I cannot tell the exact date when I will be in Boston. By the way, some
kind friend sent me a criticism from Life on my Century article,2 and on
myself, which was marked by all the broad intelligence and good humor so
preeminently characteristic of the latter day mugwump. In fact it was quite
Godkinesque — two parts imbecility and one part bad temper.
I have had hard work, and a good deal of fun since I came out here. To-
morrow I start for the roundup; and I have just come in from taking a thou-
sand head of cattle up on the trail. The weather was very bad and I had my
hands full, working night and day, and being able to take off my clothes but
once during the week I was out.
The river has been very high recently and I have had on two or three
occasions to swim my horse across it; a new experience to me. Otherwise I
have done little that is exciting in the way of horsemanship; as you know I
am no horseman, and I can not ride an unbroken horse with any comfort. The
other day I lunched with the Marquis de Mores, a French cavalry officer; he
had hunted all through France, but he told me he never saw in Europe such
stiff jumping as we have on the Meadowbrook hunt.
Cleveland is "spindling" wonderfully; Higgins8 has been repeated ad
1 Lodge, I, 29-30.
1 "Phases of State Legislation."
'Eugene A. Higgins, a prot6g£ of Senator Gorman, appointed by Cleveland to the
Treasury Department.
90
nauseam. I am afraid Evarts is too old;4 I doubt if we are able to do much
with him.
Remember me most warmly to Mrs. Lodge. Yours
(Writ in a cowcamp; I fear that my caligraphy harmonizes with the
environment.)
136 • TO WALTER SAGE HUBBELL R.M.A.
Medora, Dakota, June 8, 1885
Dear Hubbell, Your note will be considered strictly confidential I really have
not given a single thought to my taking a place on the state ticket this fall;
I shall let you know at once if such an idea enters my head; but I do'n't think
it at all probable unless for some reason it should seem best to outsiders. I
do'n't know anything about H.'s plans; do'n't you think Lieut. Gov. would
be rather high game for his hawks to fly at? Now, old boy, I hope there will
be no rivalry among us younger members for any position; of course I shall
back you for anything, unless it is a fight between you and some other one
of "our set"; and then I hardly know what course to pursue; I would like to
know the views of one or two other of the boys before settling it. Always
Yours
I 3 7 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed I
Medora, Dakota, June 23, 1885
Dear Cabot, Just a line to blow off steam on one or two points. The roundup
is swinging over from the east to the west divide; I rode in to get my mail
and must leave at once. We are working pretty hard. Yesterday I was in the
saddle at 2 A.M., and except for two very hasty meals, after each of which I
took a fresh horse, did not stop working till 8: 15 P.M.; and was up at half past
three this morning. The eight hour law does not apply to cowboys.
Mayor Grace wants me to take the position of President of the Board of
Health, from which he is just trying to oust Shaler;2 I don't know what to
do about it.
Your article on Black vs. Veazie was first rate. I have just picked up a
copy of Harpers Weekly containing an elaborate effort to excite the Pro-
hibitionists against the Republicans and praising them up. The Nation is in
the same strain. More absolute moral dishonesty could not be found; it is
discouraging to see men claiming to stand as the representatives of enlighten-
* William Maxwell Evarts, New York lawyer; Secretary of State in President Hayes'
cabinet; senator from New York, 1885-1891.
1 Lodge, I, 31-32.
•Alexander Shaler, Civil War general, president of the New York Board of Health.
In December 1885 he was indicted for accepting a bribe in the course of his official
duties. The case, in which Shaler was defended by Elihu Root, did not end until
1891, when the general was finally removed.
91
ment and disinterestedness acting in a manner that is really scoundrelly. It is
impossible that they are not hypocrites; by no chance can their motives be
good. The Prohibitionists have always been their pet horror.
They have very, very seriously injured the cause of Civil Service Re-
form. The Brooklyn Postmaster is a dandy. Yours
I 3 8 ' TO ANTOENE DE VALLOMBROSA, MARQUIS DE MORES R.M.A. MSS.°
Medora, Dakota, September «6,» 1885
Most emphatically I am not your enemy;1 if I were you would know it,
for I would be an open one, and would not have asked you to my house nor
gone to yours. As your final words however seem to imply a threat it is due
to myself to say that the statement is not made through any fear of possible
consequences to me; I too, as you know, am always on hand, and ever ready
to hold myself accountable in any way for anything I have said or done.
Yours very truly
139 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, October 7, 1885
Dear Cabot, I had already carefully read and admired your platform.2 It was
in all respects an admirable piece of work; you deserve, and I am glad to see
receive, the highest credit for it. It is a really statesmanlike document; a fine
piece of political writing, and just what we needed at this time. The illustra-
tions in the Globe were very funny. The only paper here that did not en-
dorse it without reserve was the Post, which had a laboured attack on Hoar8
and yourself.
I was glad to read of the applause with which you were greeted; it shows
the deep hold you have on the party. In every way your reappearance in
politics was one upon which you are to be congratulated.
1This is a reply to a letter now in the RJVfA. Mss. from the Marquis de Mores,
president of the Northern Pacific Refrigerator Car Company and founder of Medora.
The Marquis said: "If you are my enemy I want to know it. ... Between gentle-
men it is easy to settle matters of that sort directly." The Marquis suspected Roose-
velt of complicity in his indictment for murder; he and Roosevelt had already had
several minor disputes.
1 Lodge, I, 33.
*As chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, Lodge had drafted the state plat-
form of the Republican party in Massachusetts. Among other things, the platform
called for unconditional suspension of the silver-purchase act, extension of civil
service, federal aid for Negro education in the South, a protective tariff, enforce-
ment of the Edmunds Law in Utah, and enactment, in Massachusetts, of liberal labor
le .
Frisbie Hoar, congressman from Massachusetts, 1860-1877; senator from
tiusetts, 1877-1904; one of the founders of the Republican party in the state.
A man of character and intelligence, he was eloquent in his definition and forceful
in his support of the philosophy of political conservatism.
9*
I honestly believe I shall see you in the United States Senate, but mean-
while dorft run in that damned congressional district again.
Last Thursday I hunted, and never knew the old horse go better. I kept in
the same field with the hounds almost the whole time, and was second in at
the death; ahead of the huntsman and master. The polo ponies are in fine
shape, and ready to scuttle all round Christendom with us. The London
Athenaeum just gave me an exceedingly complimentary review. Always
yours
140 • TO JEFFERSON DAVIS Printed1
New York, October 8, 1885
[Sir:] Mr. Theodore Roosevelt is in receipt of a letter purporting to come
from Mr. Jefferson Davis, and denying that the character of Mr. Davis com-
pares unfavorably with that of Benedict Arnold. Assuming the letter to be
genuine Mr. Roosevelt has only to say that he would indeed be surprised to
find that his views of the character of Mr. Davis did not differ radically from
that apparently entertained in relation thereto by Mr. Davis himself. Mr.
Roosevelt begs leave to add that he does not deem it necessary that there
should be any further communication whatever between himself and Mr.
Davis.2
141 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, October 2 6, 1 8 8 5
Dear Cabot, I never held any such conversation as that attributed to me in the
Record; I never spoke of Cleveland's administration as I am quoted as speak-
ing; I have all along insisted that Mr. Davenport's election would be in no
sense either an endorsement or a rebuke of the Administraton.2 You can make
what use of this you choose.
142 'TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, February 7, 1886
Dear old Cabot, I really can not say how I have missed you and your "cara
sposa." Tell the latter why I was not able to see her off; the infernal doctor
had to see me before eleven o'clock. I only hope you both enjoyed your visit
1 Bishop, 1, 42.
* Jefferson Davis' letter was provoked by Roosevelt's comparison of Davis to Bene-
dict Arnold in an article entitled "The President's Policy," North American Review,
141:388-396 (October 1885).
1 Lodge, I, 35.
1 Ira Davenport, the Republican candidate for the governorship of New York, was
defeated by David Bennett Hill.
1 Lodge, I, 37-38.
93
one half as much as we enjoyed having you here. I feel really blue when I
think that it will be some nine months before I see you again; I trust that you
won't entirely forget your somewhat happy-go-lucky friend during that
time. Anything connected with your visit makes me rather pensive.
I feel a little appalled over the Benton;2 I have not the least idea whether
I shall make a flat failure of it or not. However I will do my best and trust
to luck for the result. I will be delighted when I get settled down to work of
some sort again. Not even the charm of Mrs. Z. would make me content to
pass another purely "society" winter. To be a man of the world is not my
strong point.
I suppose you will soon get to work at the Washington.8 Important and
useful though the Advertiser is, do not let it distract you from the work that
will have real and lasting value. Always yours
143 • TO LYMAN COPELAND DRAPER R.M.A.
New York, February 12, 1886
Dear Sir,1 Although personally unknown to you, I take the liberty of writing
to you, by the advice of Mr. Robert Clarke, of Cinn.
I am now engaged on a work in reference to the extension of our bound-
aries to the southward from the day when Boone crossed the Alleghanies,
to the days of the Alamo and San Jacinto.2
I know of no one whose researches into, and collections of material for,
our early western history, have been so extensive as your own; so I venture
to ask you if you can give me any information how I can get at what I want.
I wish particularly to get hold of any original or unpublished mss; such as
the diaries or letters of the first settlers, who crossed the mountains, and their
records of the early Indian wars, the attempt at founding the State of Frank-
lin, etc. Do you know if there are any records in existence, in ms. or other-
wise, of Sevier, Shelby, Robertson, and the other early Tenneseeans? or of
Clarke, Harrod and their companions?
•Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Hart Benton (American Statesmen Series, Boston,
1 887; Nat. Ed. VII).
8 Henry Cabot Lodge, George Washington (American Statesmen Series, Boston,
1889).
1Lyman Copeland Draper, an authority on the dramatic periods of western his-
tory, devoted his life to collecting material relating to the pioneer movements.
He wrote short biographies for Appleton's Cyclopedia, and also King's Mountain
and Its Heroes (Cincinnati, 1881), but he never finished the long biographies that
he planned. He said of himself: "I can write nothing so long as I fear there is a fact,
no matter how smaU, as yet ungarnered." He was secretary to the Wisconsin
State Historical Society, 1854-1886, and made many valuable contributions to its
collection.
•Theodore Roosevelt, The Winning of the West (New York, 1889-1896; Nat. Ed.
VraandDC).
94
Ramsey8 in his Annals of Tennesee speaks of the Sevier mss; I wonder
how they could be got at. Extracts from Clarke's journal have been pub-
lished; but I do not know if all of it has been, nor, if it has not been, where
it could be seen.
Trusting you will not think I have trespassed too far on your good
nature I am Most Truly yours
144 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Medora, Dakota, March 27, 1886
Dear Cabot, I thought the article on [Gouverneur] Morris admirable in every
way; one of your crack pieces. Some of the sentences were so thoroughly
characteristic of you that I kughed aloud when I read them. One of my men,
Sewall (a descendant of the Judge, by the way) read it with as much interest
as I did, and talked it over afterwards as intelligently as any one could.
I have written the first chapter of the Benton; so at any rate I have made
a start. Writing is horribly hard work to me; and I make slow progress. I
have got some good ideas in the first chapter, but I am not sure they are
worked up rightly; my style is very rough and I do not like a certain lack
of sequitur that I do not seem able to get rid of.
At present we are all snowed up by a blizzard; as soon as it lightens up
I shall start down the river with two of my men in a boat we have built while
indoors, after some horsethieves who took our boat the other night to get
out of the county with; but they have such a start we have very little chance
of catching them. I shall take Matthew Arnold along; I have had no chance
at all to read it as yet.
Have you begun on your Washington yet? And do you really intend to
run for Congress this fall?
Give my warmest love to Nannie; and remember me to everybody else,
including "Commander" Luce;2 1 hope he has forgiven me for having dubbed
him by that infernal tide.
Goodbye, old fellow. Yours
145 -TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON RobinSO7l MSS.°
Dickenson, Dakota, April 12, 1886
Darling Pussie, I wrote Elliott about my successful trip after the three thieves,
and so will not give you the particulars. I have been absent just a fortnight.
It has been very rough work, as we got entirely out of food and had an
8 James Gettys McGready Ramsey, physician, author of The Annals of Tennessee
to the End of the Eighteenth Century (Charleston, 1853).
1 Lodge, 1,38.
•John Dandridge Henley Luce, a sugar merchant, son of Rear Admiral Stephen
Bleecker Luce. He married Mrs. Lodge's sister.
95
awful time in the river, as there were great ice gorges, the cold being intense.
We captured the three men by surprise, there being no danger or difficulty
about it whatever, as it turned out; and for the last ten days I have hung to
them, through good and evil fortune, like a fate, rifle always in hand. The last
two days I have been alone, as Seawall and Dow went on with the boats down
stream, while I took the prisonners on to here overland; and I was glad
enough to give them up to the Sheriff this morning, for I was pretty well
done out with the work, the lack of sleep and the strain of the constant
watchfulness, but I am as brown and as tough as a pine knot and feel equal
to anything.
I took Anna Kar6nine along on the trip and have read it through with
very great interest. I hardly know whether to call it a very bad book or not.
There are two entirely distinct stories in it; the connection between Levines
story and Annas is of the slightest, and need not have existed atall. Levines
and Kitty's history is not only very powerfully and naturally told, but is
also perfectly healthy. Ann'as most certainly is not, though of great and sad
interest; she is portrayed as being a prey to the most violent passion, and sub-
ject to melancholia, and her reasonning power is so unbalanced that she could
not possibly be described otherwise than as in a certain sense insane. Her
character is curiously contradictory; bad as she was however she was not to
me nearly as repulsive as her brother Stiva; Vronsky had some excellent
points. I like poor Dolly — but she should have been less of a patient Griselda
with her husband. You know how I abominate the Griselda type. Tolstoi is
a great writer. Do you notice how he never comments on the actions of his
personages? He relates what they thought or did without any remark what-
ever as to whether it was good or bad, as Thucydides wrote history — a fact
which tends to give his work an unmoral rather than an immoral tone, to-
gether with the sadness so characteristic of Russian writers. I was much
pleased with the insight into Russian life. To think, by the way, of there
being a Russian whose life business is the same as Lizzie Stewart's, but who
rejoices in the name of Korsunsky!
What day does Edith go abroad, and for how long does she intend stay-
ing? Could you not send her, when she goes, $ome flowers from me? I
suppose fruit would be more useful, but I think flowers "more tenderer" as
Mr. Weller would say.
Today I go to Medora where I hope to receive some letters — hope, mark
you, and underscored, oh scoffer among women. Yours ever
146 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON Robinson MsS.°
Medora, Dakota, April 1 5, 1 886
Sweet Pussie, It would be difficult to write briefly about Legitimate Cam-
paign Expenses; and I have not the time to send a regular essay. If a campaign
is honestly carried on the expenses, though heavy, are less so than is commonly
supposed. There is some indispensable work to be done which has to be paid
for. Tens of thousands of ballots have to be printed, folded and sent out to
every voter in the district; no light labour. At every polling place there ought
to be at least one man especially charged with the interests of the candidate
singly and provided with his ballots only, so as to give members of the oppo-
site party a chance, if they wish it, to vote for him without the rest of the
ticket. This man has to have a booth, ballots, posters etc. which again costs
money. Then there must be some advertisement in the papers, and some past-
ing of placards. If there are political processions a candidate will bear his
share in defraying the expenses; also, if for an important position, he must
have rooms hired for headquarters, and if he speaks will have to pay for the
hall etc.
But whenever possible volunteers should be chosen instead of paid work-
ers; they are much more effective. Any form of bribery is not only criminal
but is also, unless done by an old hand, useless; what is known as a "bar room"
canvass is, for a gentleman, especially ineffective; the loafers and vagabonds
will take anyones money, or drink with him, but will vote against him just
the same. In my three campaigns I never paid for a drink or entered a saloon;
and my whole expenditures were under the items enumerated above, to-
gether with a subscription to the local political association, to defray the
printing and other general expenses of the party ticket on which I ran. Hiring
wagons for voters, paying great numbers of men to work etc. are generally,
although not always, merely thinly disguised forms of bribery. In districts
where crooked work is feared detectives must be hired. Some districts are
so rotten that it is almost impossible to win without bribery; in such cases a
gentleman should go in simply with the expectation of defeat; no form of
bribery is ever admissible. Yours
I enclose a card to send with the flowers to Edith when she starts off.
P.S. Will it bother you awfully to have an apothecary send me three or
four cakes of that nice transparent soap? I have nothing but castile soap
here. Express it to me.
147 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Medora, Dakota, April 1 6, 1 8 8 6
Dear Cabot, I think the Harvard speech a first rate one (bar the allusion to
me; did you see the N. Y. Herald on this latter point? ) ; and was also greatly
pleased with the editorials on Dawes2 and Indiana Civil Service Reform —
especially the latter. Black8 must be quite a pill for the civil service people,
by the way; what perverse lunatics the mugwumps are anyway. The St. Paul
1 Lodge, I, 39-40.
•Henry Laurens Dawes, Republican senator from Massachusetts, 1875-1893.
•John Charles Black, an Illinois Democrat, appointed Commissioner of Pensions by
Cleveland.
97
Pioneer Press, a very liberal paper, had a stinging article on them the other
day. Your Hamilton is a work which was most assuredly well worth doing.
I got the three horsethieves in fine style. My two Maine men and I ran
down the river three days in our boat and then came on their camp by sur-
prise. As they knew there was no other boat on the river but the one they
had taken and as they had not thought of our building another they were
taken completely unawares, one with his rifle on the ground, and the others
with theirs on their shoulders; so there was no fight, nor any need of pluck
on our part. We simply crept noiselessly up and rising when only a few yards
distant covered them with the cocked rifles while I told them to throw up
their hands. They saw that we had the drop on them completely and I guess
they also saw that we surely meant shooting if they hesitated, and so their
hands went up at once. We kept them with us nearly a week, being caught in
an ice jam; then we came to a ranch where I got a wagon, and I sent my two
men on down stream with the boat, while I took the three captives overland
a two days journey to a town where I could give them to the Sheriff. I was
pretty sleepy when I got there as I had to keep awake at night a good deal
in guarding, and we had gotten out of food, and the cold had been intense.
The other day I presided over the meeting of the Little Missouri Stock-
men here, preserving the most rigid parliamentary decorum; I go as our rep-
resentative to the great Montana Stockmeeting in a day or two.
Can you tell me if President Harrison was born in Virginia? I have no
means of finding out here. I hope he was; it gives me a good sentence for
Benton.
I am as brown and as tough as a hickory nut now. Yours always
148 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS M.SS?
Medora, Dakota, April 22, 1886
Darling Bysie, I got all of your letters in a bunch, and I need not say how
glad I was to hear from you. Your Mexican trip must be pretty nearly ideal;
from your descriptions hardly any European trip would be as fascinating or
through as curiously foreign and strange a land. The Janviers must be very
pleasant,1 and I hope they will turn out desirable additions to our limited list
of "intellectual" acquaintances, and further material for that far distant salon
wherein we are to gather society men who take part in politics, literature and
art and politicians, authors and artists whose bringing up and personal habits
do not disqualify them for society; where the clever women will neither
dress too prismatically nor yet have committed the still graver crime of
marrying dull husbands and where the pretty women who know how to dress
Thomas Allibone Janvier and Catharine Ann Janvier were ideal "material" on
which to build a salon. They were a literary couple who lived in New York in the
intervals between frequent trips abroad. He was a dilettante and journalist; she, a
painter and translator.
and dance will not have brains of the type of Gussie Drayton and Mamie
Astor.
Why is it that even such of our friends as do things that sound interesting
do them in a way that makes them very dull? The Beekmans are two fine
looking fellows of excellent family and faultless breeding, with a fine old
country place, four in hands, tandems, a yacht and so on; but, oh, the deco-
rous hopelessness of their lives! The Weekes could be very pleasantly por-
trayed; but in actual life they are as nearly impossible as any equal number
of respectable civilized beings could be. Talmadge Van Rensselaer is a fine
looking, stalwart man, a gentleman who is taking part in politics, has a good
taste for poetry, much general information and a great interest in sport; but,
heavens, what a nightmare his companionship is! What perverse Providence
made each of the Keane boys with something indiscribable but essential lack-
ing in his mental outfit?
I have just returned from the Stockmans convention at Miles City; which
raw, thriving frontier town was for three days thronged with hundreds of
rough looking, broad hatted men, numbering among them all the great cattle
and horse raisers of the northwest. I took my position very well in the con-
vention, and indeed these westerners have now pretty well accepted me as
one of themselves, and as a representative stockman. I am on the Executive
Committee of the Association, am President of the Dakota Branch etc. — all
of which directly helps me in my business relations here.
Have a not been quite a good correspondent so far? And before I received
any letters, too. Your loving brother
149 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON RobinSOn
Medora, Dakota, May 12, 1886
Darling Pttssie, If I was not afraid of being put down as cold blooded I should
say that, though I honestly miss greatly and all the time think longingly of
all you dear ones, yet I really enjoy this life. I have managed to combine an
outdoors life, possessing much variety and excitement and now and then a
little adventure, with a literary life also. Three out of four days I spend the
morning and evening in the ranche house, where I have a sitting room all to
myself, reading and working at various pieces I have now on hand. They may
come to nothing whatever; but on the other hand they may succeed; at any
rate I am doing some honest work, whatever the result is. I am really pretty
philosophical about success or failure now. It often amuses me when I acci-
dentally hear that I am supposed to be harboring secret and biting regret for
my political career; when as a matter of fact I have hardly ever when alone
given it two thoughts since it closed, and have been quite as much wrapped
up in hunting, ranching and bookmaking as I ever was in politics.
I am very much obliged to you, sweet Pussie, for the soap; it was just
what I needed. Give my best love to wee Teddy and to dear old Douglass;
99
do you know I have an excessively warm feeling for your respected spouse?
I have always admired truth, loyalty and courage.
And though I am really having a lovely life, just the life I care for, please
be sure I am always thinking of my own darling Pussie sister, whom I love
so much and so tenderly. Ever your aff. brother
150 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cobles Mssf
Medora, Dakota, May 15, 1886
Darling Bysie, The enclosed bills are correct; if you can I should greatly like
to have them paid.
You were very sweet to send me the newspaper cuttings. I was greatly
amused to find I had unknowingly won a political victory, but I would much
rather not have been made President of the Association.1 If I am going to do
anything at all I like to give my time to it; and that I can not do in this in-
stance. How did you like my Civil Service piece in the Princeton Review?
Mrs. Dodd's article was very bright and clever; I wish you would tell her
how much I enjoyed it. Also I particularly ask to have my very warmest well-
wishes given to Miss Swan; I would write myself if I had decent paper (I
have just ridden up to Medora, and may not get a chance to write again for
some little time; until after the roundup you may not hear very much from
me). Tell her it is a sincere pleasure to me to have two people happy for
both of whom I genuinely care; they will be another one of our few couples
who are good on both sides.
Now, can you, without bother, do me a favor? The poor little mite of a
Seawall girl, just baby Lee's age, has neither playmates nor play toys. I do'n't
appreciate it as a table companion, especially when fed on, or rather feeding
itself on, a mixture of syrup and strawberry jam (giving it the look of a dirty
little yellow haired gnome in war paint) ; but I wish the poor forlorn little
morsel had some playtoys. If you go in town ever; or if you do not, could
Uncle Jimmie or Aunt Annie, get and send out to me a box with the follow-
ing toys, all stout and cheap; a big colored ball, some picture blocks, some
letter blocks, a little horse and wagon and a rag doll. Mrs. Seawall and Mrs.
Dow are very nice; they will do all they can to make you comfortable next
summer if we can arrange a visit; though I rather dread seeing you at table,
for we have of course no social distinctions, and the cowboys sit down in
their shirt sleeves.
My men here are hardworking, labouring men, who work longer hours
for no greater wages than many of the strikers; but they are Americans
through and through; I believe nothing would give them greater pleasure
than a chance with their rifles at one of the mobs. When we get the papers,
especially in relation to the dynamite business they become more furiously
aThe Twenty-first Assembly District Association.
IOO
angry and excited than I do. I wish I had them with me, and a fair show at
ten times our number of rioters; my men shoot well and fear very little.
I miss both you and darling Baby Lee dreadfully; kiss her many times
for me; I am really hungry to see her. She must be just too cunning for any-
thing. Yet I enjoy my life at present. I have my time fully occupied with
work of which I am fond; and so have none of my usual restless, caged wolf
feeling. I work two days out of three at my book or papers; and I hunt, ride
and lead the wild, half adventurous life of a ranchman all through it. The ele-
ments are combined well. Goodbye, dearest Bysie. Your loving brother
151 'TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Medora, Dakota, May 20, 1886
Dear Cabot, I have got the Benton about half through; if I could work at it
without interruption for a fortnight I could send Morse2 the manuscript; but
tomorrow I leave for the roundup, and henceforth I will have to snatch a day
or two whenever I can, until the end of June. I have really become interested
in it; but I can not tell whether what I have done is worth anything or not.
I have had to study your Webster8 pretty carefully; do you [know] I am
inclined to agree with Corinne and like it even better than the Hamilton?
Benton is not as good a subject; let alone the treatment it will have.
I find that since my departure from New York I have won what a Milesian
would call a posthumous political victory. I had carefully arranged all the
details of the ticket and the fight generally before I left; but at the last mo-
ment they found they had to put me on for President, as the only hope of
carrying the district — and I was elected. I am really sorry, for I can not
spend the time necessary to take much personal part in politics now.
If things go well I may make a long bear hunting trip in the north Rockies
this fall, and of course in a trip like that it is almost impossible to make even
an approximate guess at the time when I can return.
This spring I have done enough antelope shooting to keep the ranch in
venison. Really, I enjoy this life; with books, guns and horses, and this free,
open air existence, it would be singular if I did not.
I received a hasty note from Gilder4 the other day bespeaking our account
of my horsethief hunt for The Century. I don't know whether to write it
or not.
1 Lodge, I, 40-41. .
•John Torrey Morse, Jr., editor of the American Statesmen Series for Houghton
Mifflin Company, author of biographies of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Abraham Lin-
coln, John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.
•Henry Cabot Lodge, Daniel Webster (American Statesmen Series, Boston, 1882).
* Richard Watson Gilder, editor of the Century Magazine, 1881-1909; poet, biogra-
pher. Throughout the closing decades of the nineteenth centurv he was active in
efforts to reform housing conditions, municipal government and die civil service.
IOI
Give my best love to Nannie. Goodbye, old fellow; send me any impor-
tant editorial in the Advertiser. Yours always
152 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Medora, Dakota, June 7, 1886
Dear Cabot, I wonder if your friendship will stand a very serious strain.
I have pretty nearly finished Benton, mainly evolving him from my inner
consciousness; but when he leaves the Senate in 1850 1 have nothing whatever
to go by; and, being by nature both a timid and, on occasions, by choice a
truthful man, I would prefer to have some foundation of fact, no matter how
slender, on which to build the airy and arabesque superstructure of my fancy
— especially as I am writing a history. Now I hesitate to give him a wholly
fictitious date of death and to invent all of the work of his later years. Would
it be too infernal a nuisance for you to hire some one on the Advertiser (of
course at my expense) to look up, in a biographical dictionary or elsewhere,
his life after he left the Senate in 1850? He was elected once to Congress;
who beat him when he ran the second time? What was the issue? Who beat
him, and why, when he ran for Governor of Missouri? and the date of his
death? I hate to trouble you; don't do it if it is any bother; but the Bad Lands
have much fewer books than Boston has. As soon as I can get these dates I
can send Morse the manuscript. (Have a copyist write them out and let him
send them to me.)
I have been on the round-up for a fortnight, almost steadily. When we
started, there were sixty men in the saddle who splashed across the shallow
ford of the river; every one a bold rider, and every one on a good horse.
It has been great fun; but hard work — fourteen to sixteen hours every day.
Breakfast comes at three; and I am pretty sleepy, all the time.
Where (page and exact words would be appreciated) do you speak of
Jackson's financial antics being like those of a monkey with a watch?
In your Webster I notice you quote Browning's "Love Among the
Ruins"; that has always been one of my favorite poems. But what made him
write such infernal nonsense, as, for example, "Another Way of Love"? That
intellectual prank can't be even parsed, much less understood. It isn't obscure;
it's unintelligible. When he writes some such sentence as "Inflamable red
Giotto qualifies potatoes," while I confess I don't understand it, I also humbly
admit he may use the words in a poetic sense which my coarse nature can't
grasp; but when he uses qualifying words that qualify nothing, a predicate
with no object, and sentences, or alleged sentences that are fortunate if they
have one of the three parts I was taught to consider indispensable when I
studied grammar — why then I rebel.
However I am getting on. Tell Nannie I am going to make a serious study
of the gentleman from Avon; it is bad enough to be caught when she quotes
1 Lodge, 1, 41-^2.
102
the Bab Ballads or Dickens, with her impassive face — but to be caught with
Shakespeare is too much. Ask her, too, if you, Cabot, still grow noisy and
injured over the pleasant game of "Louisa" — or "Susannah" or "Anna
Maria," or whatever or whichever the name of the thing is. Does she remem-
ber the time she refused to run down Cooper's Bluff? Nobody who heard her
would ever again have accused her of possessing a timid or irresolute charac-
ter. Yours ever
153 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS M.SS?
Medora, Dakota, June 19, 1886
Darling Bysie, The round up has stopped for a day or two, and on riding
into town I was delighted to find your two letters; they told me just what I
wanted to hear, about the jolly parties at Sagamore, and all the rest of it. I
have never considered myself a very social personage; but I do wish I could
have been present at some of the sprees; and I simply can not say how much
I wish to see you and to kiss and pet darling baby. Did you ever receive my
letter in which I asked if you could conveniently send me some toys (blocks,
a ball, a woolly dog, a rag doll etc) for the forlorn little mite of a Seawall
child? I shall probably be home about October ist; perhaps a fortnight
sooner, perhaps not until two or three weeks later; make all your plans with-
out reference to me, and I will fit into them somehow.
I enclose a letter which I wish you could get Mrs. Butler to answer. I
can't make out the signature, nor the sex of the writer nor whether a friend
or a stranger.
I am very glad you had Mrs. Lee to stay with you — I can say darling
martyr Bi and the interminable grabage — and that she enjoyed herself so
much, as she says in a long sweet letter to me.
La Guerre et La Paix, like all Tolstoi's work, is very strong and very
interesting. The descriptions of the battles are excellent, but though with one
or two good ideas underneath them, the criticisms of the commanders, espe-
cially of Napoleon, and of wars in general, are absurd. Moreover when he
criticises battles (and the iniquity of war) in his capacity of author, he de-
prives himself of all excuse for the failure to criticise the various other im-
moralities he portrays. In Anna Karenine he let each character, good or bad,
speak for itself; and while he might better have shown some reprobation of
evil, at least it could be alleged in answer that he simply narrated, putting the
facts before us that we ourselves might judge them. But when he again and
again spends pages in descanting on the wickedness and folly of war, and
passes over other vices without a word of reproach he certainly in so far acts
as the apologist for the latter, and the general tone of the book does not seem
to me to be in the least conducive to morality. Natacha is a bundle of con-
tradictions, and her fickleness is portrayed as truly marvellous; how Pierre
could ever have ventured to leave her alone for six weeks after he was mar-
103
ried I can not imagine. Marie as portrayed by him is a girl that we can hardly
conceive of as fascinating Rostow. Sonia is another variety of the patient
Griselda type. The two men Andr£ and Pierre are wonderfully well drawn;
and all through the book there are touches and descriptions that are simply
masterpieces.
The round up has been great fun. If I did not miss all at home so much,
and also my beautiful house, I should say that this free, open air life, without
any worry, was perfection and I write steadily three or four days, and then
hunt (I killed two elk and some antelope recently) or ride on the round up
for as many more.
I send the enclose slip from a criticism of my book on account of the
awful irony of the lines I have underscored; send it to Douglass when you
write him. Ever your loving brother
154 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MsS.°
Medora, Dakota, June 28, 1886
Darling Bysie, I was so very glad to get your dear long letter (I have read
every word of it twice) ; and thank you so much for the toys, they will be
priceless treasures to the poor little Seawall mite. Could you send Mrs.
Rebecca Seawall, Island Falls, Aroostook Co, Maine, a picture of the baby?
If possible the one standing up, with you sitting down, and kiss that darling
baby a hundred times for me.
The round up is now over. I have been working like a beaver; it is now
five weeks since I have had breakfast as late as four oclock any morning.
You would hardly know my sunburned and wind roughened face. But I
have really enjoyed it and am as tough as a hickory knot.
I am delighted you enjoyed the Lodges so much; it is the only place out-
side of the family that I really care to visit, and I am looking forward greatly
to going there. I have been in a good deal of a quandary over Mayor Graces
offer,1 which I suppose you know all about.
I shall not send in Benton until I have gone over it in the Astor Library
or some such place. A weeks work with authorities to consult would now
let me finish it entirely. As both you and Cabot advise so strongly against
sending in the horse thief piece to the Century I suppose I shall keep that
too, though I do not quite see why it would be better to have it incorporated
in anything else; of course I shall take good care that the pronoun "I" does
not appear once in the whole piece, if it can possibly be avoided. One minor
result of my not sending in these various pieces will be to prevent my going
to the Rockies, 'as, on several accounts, I do not wish to draw any money
from Douglass this summer if by any chance it can be helped.
* Roosevelt had been sounded out on his availability for the presidency of the New
York Board of Health, the office held by Alexander Shaler until 1891.
104
By the way, a new career is open to me; dear old Cotty Peabody2 wrote
me a long letter the other day in which he expressed a wish that things were
so I could become a teacher in his school! He is a good old boy.
I have heard nothing of the Oyster Bay railroad scheme; you take what-
ever position you choose and I will back you.
I always feel really sorry for poor little Lizzie; for I am genuinely fond
of her, and I can not help feeling that she has more in her than has ever come
out. She must be dreadfully tired of life.
I can not tell exactly when I will be home; it will be between the middle
of September and the middle of October; make your plans entirely without
reference to me.
The cattle have so far certainly done well; I am curious to see how the
fall sales will come out.
Goodbye dearest Bysie, I am so glad you are enjoying your summer; do
take care of your health, Your loving brother
155 • TO DOUGLAS ROBINSON R.M.A.
Medora, Dakota, June 28, 1886
Dear old Douglass, I have just come in from the round up, and found your
two most welcome letters; I need hardly say how glad I was to get them. I
did not write you about the Mayor Grace incident because I did not want
to bother you about such a trifle when the event was so near at hand. I ride
down to the ranche tomorrow and will be back in a couple of days to see
what the news is; do let me know fully at once. I shall be very anxious until
I hear; then I shall write Pussie at once.
I hardly knew what to do about the Grace offer. Finally I came to the
conclusion that I ought to accept; but of course I do not want to take a
personal part in the legal fight against Shaler. Your letters were a great relief
to me, as I at this distance could form little or no idea 'as to what was up.
I wish you would let me know if you think Grace is in earnest, and how long
the fight will last; also if it is probable or not that I will be really appointed
and when it will be necessary for me to come back to New York. Of course
this is pretty important to me as I ought very shortly to be making my prepa-
rations for my hunt in the Rockies.
I am very much afraid that if I do go to the Rockies I will have to draw
on you. My Benton, which was to bring me in $500 can not be finished until
I can consult some great library (I have written all but about thirty pages) ;
and Bamie and Cabot Lodge both wish me not to send in a horsethief piece
to the Century until I make it part of a series of articles. I suppose they think
it would* look egotistical. What do you think of it?
I have been off on the roundup for five weeks, taking a holiday of a few
days when we had a cold snap, during which time I killed two elk and six
•Endicott Peabody, headmaster of the Groton School.
105
antelope, all the meat being smoke dried, and now hanging round the trees
till the ranch looks like an Indian encampment. Since June 24th I have never
once had breakfast as late as four oclock, have been in the saddle all day and
have worked like a beaver; and am as rugged and happy as possible. While
I do not see any very great fortune ahead yet if things go on as they are now
going and have gone for the past three years I think I will each year net
enough money to pay a good interest on the capital, and yet be adding
slowly to my herd all the time. I think I have more than my original capital
on the ground, and this year I ought to be able to sell between two and three
hundred head of steers and drystock.
I wish I could see all of you; but I certainly do enjoy this life. The other
day while dining at the de Mores I had some cherries — the only fruit I
have had since I left New York. I have lived pretty roughly.
Drop me a line when you have time to tell me about the prospects in the
Grace incident. Yours off.
156 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON RobblSOn MsS.°
Medora, Dakota, July 5, 1886
My own darling Pussie, my sweetest little sister, how can I tell you the joy
I felt when I received Douglass'es first telegram; but I had not the heart to
write you until I received the second the good old boy sent me and knew
you were all right. Just to think of there being a second wee new Pussie in
this big world! l How I shall love and pet and prize the little thing! It will
be very, very dear to Uncle Ted's heart, but which is quite large enough not
to lose an atom of affection for Teddy Douglass, the blessed little scamp. I
have thought of you all the time for the last few weeks, and you can hardly
imagine how overjoyed and relieved I feel, my own darling sister. I hope the
little new Pussie will grow up just as cunning and bewitching as her dear
mother, and that she will have many, many loving ones as fond of her as her
irrelevant old cowboy uncle is of Pussie senior. Will you be very much
offended if I ask whether she now looks like a little sparsely haired pink
polyp? My own offspring, when in tender youth closely resembled a scarlet
trilobite of pulpy consistency and shadowy outline. You dearest Pussie, you
know I am just teazing you, and how proud and fond I am of the little thing,
even when I have never seen it. I wish I was where I could shake old Doug-
lass by the hand and kiss you again and again.
I think you will be amused to learn who are visiting me at present; —
Lispenard Stewart2 and a Doctor Taylor,8 Coleman Drayton's brother in
1Corinne Douglas Robinson, daughter of Douglas Robinson and Coring (Roose-
velt) Robinson. She married Joseph Wright Alsop in 1909.
'Lispenard Stewart, a trustee of the Rhinelander Estate, had a lifelong interest in
charitable and philanthropic ventures. He was Republican senator from New York,
1889-1890, president of the state Commission of Prisons, 1895-1903.
•John Madison Taylor, a Philadelphia doctor, assistant to Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell.
106
law! They wrote me they were going through Medora, and of course I had
to ask them out to my ranch. They got along better than I had any idea they
would, being evidently determined to make the very best of things. They are
now so stiff they can hardly get up or sit down, as I took them quite a ride
yesterday. Stewart is a harmless, gentlemanly, rather blurred personage;
Taylor seems to be a good deal of a man.
Today I went down to Dickensen to make the fourth of July speech to
a great crowd of cowboys and grangers, and afterwards stayed to see the
horse races between cowboys & Indians etc.
Tell Douglass that Cabot Lodge is very strongly against my accepting
Mayor Graces offer, he evidently thinks it infra dig; but I think he is wrong.
But it will fairly break my heart to have to give up this life, and especially
my Rocky Mountain Hunting trip this fall. However if I continued to make
long stays here I should very soon get to practically give up the east entirely.
With best love for you my own dear sister, I am Your own brother
157 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT C&wIeS M.SS?
Medora, Dakota, August 7, 1886
Darling Bysie, I felt more melancholy than you would give your cold
blooded brother credit for feeling when I said goodbye to my dearest sister
and cunning little yellow headed baby Lee. Do kiss the darling for me and
tell her her father thinks of her and of you very often.
"Three Englishmen and Three Americans"1 is a singularly charming
book. I have rarely read one that taught me more and that at the same time
gave me more pleasure. Of course there were two or three things with which
I totally disagreed; his opinion of Poe and Byron for instance, and especially
his really inept criticism on Cooper. He should read Lounsberry's life of the
latter,2 and then humbly confess his own utter short coming. And, curiously
enough, the contrast between Emersons "Rhodora" and Wordsworth's
"Daffodils" is to me just the reverse of what he describes it. The simplicity
in the former seems to me perfectly natural and in the latter artificially elabo-
rated. But the whole book is well fitted to give one new ideas; and it is one
of those books of which we were speaking to which it is good to refer.
On Both Sides8 was as amusing and clever as it could possibly be. I read
it with the keenest enjoyment.
Merrifield and I are now busily planning our mountain trip. Your loving
brother
1 Charles Frederick Johnson, Three Englishmen and Three Americans (New York,
"Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury, James Fenhnore Cooper (American Men of Letters
Series, Boston, 1 882 ) .
•Frances Courtenay Baylor, On Both Sides (Philadelphia, 1886).
107
I58-TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Medora, Dakota, August 10, 1886
Dear Cabot, Just a line, to make a request.
I have written on to Secretary Endicott2 offering to try to raise some
companies of horse riflemen out here in the event of trouble with Mexico.8
Will you telegraph me at once if war becomes inevitable? Out here things
are so much behind hand that I might not hear the news for a week. I haven't
the least idea there will be any trouble; but as my chance of doing anything
in the future worth doing seems to grow continually smaller I intend to grasp
at every opportunity that turns up.
I think there is some good fighting stuff among these harum-scarum
roughriders out here; whether I can bring it out is another matter. All the
boys were delighted with your photographs — except the one in which you
left the saddle, which they spotted at once. They send a very cordial invita-
tion to come out here; though they don't approve of bobtailed horses.
I sent the Benton ms. on to Morse yesterday; I hope it is decent, but
lately I have been troubled with dreadful misgivings.
Remember me particularly to Nannie and tell her that the opening lines
of "Childe Harold to the dark tower came" (in Browning, I mean) now
always excite pensive memories in my gentle soul. Always yours
159 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Medora, Dakota, August 20, 1886
Dear Cabot, I am glad I did not see the unholy glee of Nannie and yourself
over Childe Roland's new synonym (there, the Gods have certainly deserted
me; I don't know how that's spelt even) ; Childe is always in my mind asso-
ciated with "Harold" or "of Elle." My youth was an unlettered one.
I couldn't insure the Benton in the express office here, so sent it on trust;
I haven't heard whether it turned up safely or not; I hope so for I would not
rewrite it for a good deal.
I wrote as regards Mexico qua cowboy, not qua statesman; I know little
of the question, but conclude Bayard 2 is wrong, for otherwise it would be
1 Lodge, I, 44-45.
•William Crowninshield Endicott, Secretary of War, 1885-1889.
5 A border incident resulting in the death of Captain Emmet Crawford, USA.,
had produced strained relations between the United States and Mexico. Secretary
Bayard left the matter open to negotiation; it was settled in 1891.
1 Lodge, I, 45-^6.
•Thomas Francis Bayard, senator from Delaware, 1869-1885; Secretary of State,
1885-1889; ambassador to Britain, 1893-1897. John Hay referred to "the long wash"
of his "unhesitatinff orotundity"; but, especially as Secretary of State, he performed
several difficult tasks effectively. As a Democrat, he was naturally suspect to Roose-
velt.
108
phenomenal; he ought to be idolized by the mugwumps. If a war had come
off I would surely have had behind me as utterly reckless a set of desperados,
as ever sat in the saddle.
It is no use saying that I would like a chance at something I thought I
could really do; at present I see nothing whatever ahead. However, there is
the hunting in the fall, at any rate.
Tomorrow I start with Merrifield for the Rockies after problematic bear
and visionary white goat; so I will not have a chance to write again as I will
not come back till about October ist when I start at once for home.
When do you begin at the Washington? How ridiculous to have Clay in
two volumes;8 just like that Dutchman to go off on such a tangent.
I guess the gentle mugwumps will feel their hair curl when they look at
some of the sentences in Benton. Always yoursy old fellow
1 60 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, October 10, 1886
Dear Cabot, I killed three white goats, also elk, deer, etc., and had some good
coursing with the greyhounds after foxes and jack rabbits.
I got back here day before yesterday; yesterday I took Sagamore out
after the hounds, and he kept me right in the first flight till the death; I have
never been on as good a horse. Poor old Elliott broke his collar bone the
third time he was out with the hounds; so did Winty Rutherford; and Her-
bert broke his leg. I am happy to say we now try to get easier country.
I won in my primary contest. I was asked to take part in the Maine and
Ohio campaigns; but could not, for I have an awful amount of work to do
here.
I am afraid that I can not possibly get away now for more than a day or
two; now tell me frankly, are you really able to give me a mount for one run
on Toronto? I do want to see your country; but remember, I am no rider,
and if you think I can hurt the 'horse I don't want to ride, but I will come on
for a day or two anyhow, if you wish me. Can I come on some day between
the 1 8th and the z6th? I will come on in the night train and go straight out
to Nahant, so as to be there early in the morning, if you will tell me what
train to take.
Have you any idea when my Benton will be out?
Give my best love to Nannie.
Of course if there is any earthly thing I can do to help you in your cam-
paign I will be only too glad to do it. I do hope you beat Andrew2 out of
•Carl Schurz, The Life of Henry Clay (American Statesmen Series, Boston, 1887).
» JohiPForrester' Andrew, son of Governor Andrew of Massachusetts; unsuccessful
Democratic candidate for governor, 1886; member of Congress from Massachusetts,
1889-1893.
109
sight; is it possible that the rank and file democrats will support him? Yours
always
l6l -TO ELIHU ROOT AND WILLIAM H. BELLAMY Printed1
New York, October 16, 1886
Gentlemen: I accept the nomination for Mayor tendered me by the Republi-
can Convention. I appreciate the honor and shall endeavor to justify your
confidence. If elected I shall do my best to serve the Republican Party by
serving the city well.2
During three years' service in the State Legislature fully half my time was
occupied in dealing with the intricate municipal misgovernment of this city,
and it became evident to me that there could be no great or effective change
for the better in our Gty Government except through the unsparing use of
the knife wielded by some man who could act unhampered by the political
interests which sustain the present abuses, and without fear of either personal
1 Theodore Roosevelt, Campaigns and Controversies, Nat. Ed. XIV, 68-69.
Root, a New York lawyer already prominent in Republican politics, was chairman,
and William H. Bellamy was secretary, of the Republican County Committee.
'In the mayoralty campaign of 1886 Roosevelt ran against two other candidates;
Henry George, the choice of the political club, Irving Hall, and organized labor, and
Abram S. Hewitt, a successful ironmaster, businessman, and former Democratic
congressman. Tammany had sought out Hewitt to give prestige to the Democratic
ticket. For a time Republican leaders considered supporting Hewitt, but, partly in
order to improve their future bargaining position with Tammany, they decided to
present their own candidate. These leaders chose Roosevelt after Root and Levi P.
Morton had refused to run. Roosevelt accepted the nomination out of loyalty to the
party. He realized that he had almost no chance to win. A few groups of business-
men endorsed him. Most conservatives, however, afraid of George, his economic
theories, his rousing campaign, his popularity with labor and with the Irish, turned
to Hewitt, the Tammany candidate. Hewitt thus had strong party support and the
advantages of experience and an excellent record. Roosevelt made a spirited canvass,
emphasizing the need for morality in municipal government and denying the exist-
ence of a class issue. As he later observed, he might have won had not Republicans
slashed the ticket to vote for Hewitt. The final count was Hewitt: 90,552; George:
68,1 10; Roosevelt: 60435. In five Assembly districts, including the Twenty-first,
Roosevelt ran first. In spite of his youth and the formidable character of his oppo-
nents, he polled a larger percentage of the popular vote than did any other regular
Republican candidate in a three-cornered mayoralty race between the Civil War and
1909. Roosevelt rarely mentioned the campaign in his later letters and writings.
There has been no complete study of Roosevelt's relation to the party in 1886,
but the issues of the election and certain aspects of the campaign are adequately
covered in the following references. Roosevelt's views: Roosevelt, Campaigns and
Controversies, Nat. Ed. XIV, 72-76; Roosevelt, "Machine Politics in New York
City," American Ideals, Nat. Ed. XIII, 76-98. Other sources: Alexander, Four Famous
New Yorkers, ch. ix; Samuel Gompers, Seventy Years of Life and Labor, an Auto-
biography (New York, 1925), I, 311-326; Hurwitz, Roosevelt and Labor, ch. iv;
Philip C. Jessup, Elihu Root (New York, 1938), I, 163-165; Gustavus Myers, The
History of Tammany Hall (New York, 1917), pp. 269-270; Allan Nevins, Abram S.
Hewitt (New York, 1935), pp. 460-469; Louis F. Post and Frederick C. Leubuscher,
An Account of the George-Hewitt Campaign in the New York Municipal Election
of 1886 (New York, 1887); Pringle, Roosevelt, pp. 112-115.
I IO
or political consequences. It is not enough that the Mayor refrain from mak-
ing bad appointments or that he play a passively good part; to work a real
reform he must devote his whole energy to actively grappling with and
rooting out the countless evils and abuses already existing.
The chief reason for the continuance of these evils and abuses lies in the
fact that hitherto no man having power has dared to deal with them without
reference to the effect upon National and State politics. Many excellent
gentlemen have deplored their existence and would have been glad to rem-
edy them; but every effort against the spoilsmen who are eating up the sub-
stance of the city has been checked by the consideration that to assail them
would affect unfavorably the control of some convention or the success of
some election. Our Gty Government has been made a tender to National
and State Party Government; the city is governed for the benefit of parties,
instead of parties being governed for the benefit of the city. We are prac-
tically blackmailed to the extent of millions of dollars annually by a host of
sinecurists whose return is rendered not in service to us but in protection and
support to certain political leaders, candidates, and factions. Sooner or later
the people of New York will realize that it is not sufficient merely to have
at the head of their Government a man of high purpose and character, but
that they must have one who shall also be entirely free from political en-
tanglement with the beneficiaries of the present abuses; it is practically impos-
sible for any member of the party now, and for so long past, dominant in our
local affairs to work a real reform therein, for, no matter how good his aims,
he would find himself at every step trammelled by a thousand personal and
political ties.
Thanking you for the honor you have conferred upon me, I am, with
great respect, yours very truly
l62 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, October 17, 1886
Dear Cabot, Just two hours after writing you my last card, I was visited by
a succession of the influential Republicans of the city to entreat me to take
the nomination for Mayor. With the most genuine reluctance I finally ac-
cepted. It is of course a perfectly hopeless contest, the chance for success
being so very small that it may be left out of account. But they want to get
a united Republican party in this city and to make a good record before the
people; I am at the head of an unexceptionable ticket. They seemed to think
that my name would be the strongest they could get, and were most urgent
for me to run; and I did not well see how I could refuse.
If I make a good run it will not hurt me; but it will if I make a bad one,
as is very likely. Many of the decent Republicans are panicky over George,
whose canvass is not at all dangerous, being mainly wind; if die panic grows
1 Lodge, 1,47-48.
ill
thousands of my supporters will go to Hewitt for fear George may be elected
— a perfectly groundless emotion. The Evening Post is for Hewitt and is
harping vigorously on this string. So it is quite on the cards that I will be
most hopelessly defeated. All that I hope for, at the best, is to make a good
run and get out the Republican vote; you see I have over forty thousand
majority against me. If I could have kept out I would never have been in the
contest.
We have the horse show here on the 3rd, 4th and fth of November; can
not you come on to me then? I will be in hopeless confusion; but I would
like to see you for twenty-four hours at any rate — and as much more as
you can give. I hate to give up my visit to you. Always yours
Write me a line how your own private contest is progressing.
163 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, October 20, 1886
Dear Cabot, Though up to my ears in work (I had a hundred letters in this
morning's mail) I must answer you. You don't know how I wish I could see
you; half an hour's talk with you would make me feel like a different man —
for it is horrible work to run such a canvass as this.
I would give anything if you could only be elected; of course I can not
tell about your chances but do you know I can not help having a feeling you
will be successful. How I hope for it! The Herald, Col. Codman & Co. must
of necessity be dishonest in their attitude towards you. If I could only be
where I could work for you and against — oh, how heartily against! —
Andrew!
The Independents here are as bitter against me as in Boston against you.
The Times supports me heartily; Harpers and Puck are against me; and the
Evening Post assails me with its usual virulent and lying malignity.
This must not be spoken outside; but in reality, not only is there not the
slightest chance of my election, but there is at least an even chance of my
suffering a very unusually heavy and damaging defeat; I was most reluctant
to run; but all the prominent party leaders came to me, and put it on the
score of absolute duty to the party; and I did not see how I could refuse.
The George vote will be very large, but how large no one can tell; nor can
we say if there will or will not be many Republicans in his ranks. The Post
and Harpers are working up the scare over him so effectively that undoubt-
edly thousands of my should-be supporters will leave me and vote for
Hewitt to beat him. If at this time the decent so-called Republicans would
stand by me I would have a good chance of winning; as it is, if the Hewitt
stampede grows strong I will be most disastrously defeated. The men who
1 Lodge, I, 48-49.
112
for years have howled for the Republicans to give them a decent ticket now
when they have one, knife it in a body. In all probability this campaign
means my final and definite retirement as an available candidate; but at least
I have a better party standing than ever before, and my position there is
assured.
I must see you and Nannie soon. Best luck, old fellow. Always faithfully
yours
I 64 • TO FRANCES THEODORA SMITH DANA POTSOnS MSS.Q
New York, October 21, 1886
My dear Fanny? I had over a hundred letters by this morning's mail; but if it
were a thousand, yours would be of all others the one I should answer. I do
not care for very many people; so perhaps it is natural that I should place so
very high a value of your friendship; you are one of the very few in whose
eyes I am anxious to appear well, and whose sympathy and regard I should
most reluctantly forfeit.
I took the nomination with extreme reluctance, and only because the
prominent party men fairly implored me. There is no chance of success
(this you must be sure not to breathe as coming from me) ; the best I can
hope for is to make a decent run; and the chances are even that my defeat
will be overwhelming to a degree. The simple fact is that I had to play
Curtius and leap into the gulf that was yawning before the Republican party;
had the chances been better I would probably not have been asked. Still it
was of course in a certain sense a compliment to be nominated in the way I
was.
An absurd feature of the canvass is that on November ist the Century
will contain an article by me on "Machine Politics in New York City"; and
I suppose my "Life of Benton" will be out soon.
I had great fun in the west this summer; among other things I killed three
White Antelope-goats in the Coeur D'A16nes; I suppose I am the first eastern
sportsman who has ever killed them. I have just arranged to give half a
dozen sporting articles to the Century.
Do you recollect my telling you about the "nice Kentucky girl" and her
husband? Well they were awfully kind to me this summer, when I took
three cattle thieves into Mandan for trial.
It has been awfully pleasant to have a chat with you, if only on paper.
Remember me most wannly to your husband. Always faithfully your friend
1 Frances Theodora (Smith) Dana, a writer of botanical works for children, married
W. S. Dana in 1884 and, after his death, James Russell Parsons in 1896. The close
friendship between Airs. Parsons and Roosevelt began in early childhood and con-
tinued unbroken until his death.
165 ' TO DENIS DONOHUE, JUNIOR Printed1
New York, October 22, 1886
Sir: I have received the communication addressed to me by your body on
Oct. 21, and am much struck by the reckless misstatements and crude and
vicious theories which it contains. The mass of the American people are
most emphatically not in the deplorable condition of which you speak, and
the "statesmen and patriots of to-day" are no more responsible for some
people being poorer than others than they are for some people being shorter,
or more near-sighted, or physically weaker than others. If you had any con-
ception of the true American spirit you would know we do not have "classes"
at all on this side of the water. For example, you say I belong to the "land-
lord class," whereas, in reality, I own no land at all except that on which I
myself live. Your statement that I wish rents to be high and wages low is a
deliberate untruth. Your next statement that I would like to have all the
inhabitants of this city my tenants and wage-workers is a ridiculous untruth.
Your third statement as to what I would do in that contingency is as pre-
posterous as it is absurd. I have worked both with hands and with head,
probably quite as hard as any member of your body. The only place where
I employ many "wage-workers" is on my ranch in the West, and there
almost every one of the men has some interest in the profits, either because
he is partly paid by a share out of them or else because he has invested a
portion of his surplus earnings in the business with me.
Some of the evils of which you complain are real and can be to a certain
degree remedied, but not by the remedies you propose; others are imaginary,
and others, though real, can only be gotten over through that capacity for
steady, individual self-help which is the glory of every true American, and
can no more be done away with by legislation than you could do away with
the bruises which you receive when you tumble down, by passing an act to
repeal the laws of gravitation. Very truly yours
1 66 • TO CHARLES P. MILLER Printed1
New York, October 25, 1886
My Dear Mr. Miller: Certainly you are right. I stand squarely on my letter
to Mr. Scott, and would do so if I knew it would cost me my election.
Roosevelt, Campaigns and Controversies, Nat. Ed. XIV, 70-71. Denis Donohue, Jr.,
president of the Newspaper Men's Henry George Campaign Club, in a public letter
to Roosevelt had described Roosevelt and Hewitt as belonging to "the employing
and landlord class, whose interests are best served when wages are low and rents
are high." Donohue's letter is printed in the volume just cited, pp. 70-71.
1 New York Times, October 26, 1886. Charles P. Miller, one of Roosevelt's supporters,
in a letter published with this reply, asked if Roosevelt still held the ideas stated in
his letter of Oct. 30, 1884 (128) to F. M. Scott. Miller observed that the Democrats
were describing Roosevelt as " 'a man of straw1 put up by the machine ... for
the purpose of electing George to spite the Democrats."
114
The attempt of the Evening Post people and others to discredit me be-
cause I supported the Citizens' nominee in 1884 is ridiculous and coming
from a newspaper which professes to believe in independence in municipal
politics is also dishonest.
I fully believe I shall receive the hearty support of the regular Republi-
cans. My chances for election have improved every day since I was nomi-
nated. Mr. Hewitt's people are working the Henry George scare for all it is
worth, simply to frighten the weak-kneed and timid Republicans and Inde-
pendents; for, as a matter of fact, they know perfectly well that if Mr.
George's vote really threatens to be dangerously large then the only possible
candidate with whom to beat him is myself. Yours, very truly
167 'TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, November i, 1886
Dear Cabot, I have written Nannie telling her that on Saturday next I sail
for England to marry Edith Carow. The chief reason I was so especially dis-
appointed at not seeing you both this fall was because I wished to tell you in
person. You know, old fellow, you and Nannie are more to me than any one
else but my own immediate family. The engagement is not to be announced,
nor a soul told, until the 8th.
I only pray you may succeed. Here, I have but little chance. I have made
a rattling canvass, with heavy inroads on the Democratic vote; but the "timid
good" are for Hewitt. Godkin, White and various others of the "better ele-
ment" have acted with unscrupulous meanness and a low, partisan dishon-
esty and untruthfulness which would disgrace the veriest machine heelers.
May Providence in due season give me a chance to get even with some of
them! Yours always
I 67 A • TO LAURA HENRIETTA D'OREMIEULX ROOSEVELT Derby MSS.°
New York, November 5, 1886
Dear Cousin Laura, I thank you very much for so kindly thinking of me;
I assure you it pleased me very greatly.
Now, for something far more important than the mayoralty. Tomorrow
I sail for Europe to marry Miss Edith Carow, and I wish your best wishes.
Aff. yours
1 Lodge, 1,49-50.
I 68 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
London, November 22, 1886
Dear Cabot, I have had very good fun here. I brought no letters and wrote
no one I was coming, holding myself stiffly aloof; and, perhaps in conse-
quence, I have been treated like a prince. I have been put down at the Athe-
naeum and the other swell clubs, have been dined and lunched every day,
and have had countless invitations to go down into the country and hunt
or shoot. I have really enjoyed meeting some of the men — as Goschen,
Shaw-Lefevre, John Morley, Bryce (who wished to be remembered to you,
and was especially complimentary about your Hamilton) and others. Lord
North and Lord Carnarven were also pleasant.2
I had one very good day with the Essex hounds, including an hour's
sharp run. It was totally different from our Long Island draghunting; there
was infinitely more head work needed by the men and more cleverness by
the horses, but there was not any of our high jumping or breakneck gallop-
ing. My horse was a good one but his wind gave out and we came two tre-
mendous croppers; but the ground was so soft I was hardly even jarred and
I kept my reins tight, so as to be over again as soon as the horse was up. The
field was a couple of hundred strong. But the country was so blind that I
could not ride my own line at all, and followed the master or one of the
two or three in the first flight all the time. The horses I saw would not, I
believe, face our high timber at all; but ours would do quite as badly at first
here; they would go straight into the ditches on the far sides of the hedges.
I hate jumping through bull-finches.
I am to be married on Dec. 2d. Edith sends her warmest remembrance to
you and Nannie, and says that you two at any rate must try to like her.
Remember to send me a copy of the Benton, if not too much trouble.
Yours always
169 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON RobinSOn MsS.°
London, November 22, 1886
Darling Pussie, You were a very, very sweet Pussie to write me the little
note; and Douglass was a trump too.
Bamie has had a glorious time; she has the usual miscellaneous crowd of
adorers round her, and has afternoon teas with as many incongruous men in
attendance as at New York.
I, having begun by treating all the Englishmen I met with austere reserve,
have, perhaps in consequence, become quite a lion. I am put up at all the
1 Lodge, 1,50-51.
* These men, of whom only Bryce, the historian, was to maintain a continuous
friendship with Roosevelt, exemplified in their distinguished careers the most attrac-
tive qualities of Victorian statesmanship and letters.
116
clubs I care to be (The Athenaeum and St. James in particular: I declined
the offer of the Travellers) ; and have three times as many invitations as I can
accept to dine, hunt, shoot and go to country houses. Some of the men I
have been sorry to refuse — as when I had to give up lunching at the Duke
of Westminster or going to stay with Lord North and again with the Earl
of Carnavarn. But I was more anxious to meet some of the intellectual men,
such as Goschen, John Morley, Bryce, Shaw-Lefevre (where I spend next
Sunday) etc. I have dined or lunched with them all. Yesterday I hunted
with the Essex county hounds, and had two tremendous croppers; I was not
hurt a bit nor did I lose my horse reins, and my riding if not brilliant was
at least not disgraceful. It is very different hunting from ours.
You have no idea how sweet Edith is about many different things, which
Bamie will tell you. I do'n't think even I had known how wonderfully good
and unselfish she was; she is naturally reserved and finds it especially hard
to express her feelings on paper. Mrs. Carow and Emily1 have been marvel-
lously sweet to me.
In great haste Your loving brother
170 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cowles MsS.Q
Florence, January 3, 1887
Darling Bysie, It was just too sweet of you to send me the lovely hair brushes,
and Edie the little silver bottle; they were the most complete surprise to me.
We had an idyllic three weeks trip; and it is extremely pleasant here in
Florence. Mrs. Carow and Emily are really too sweet and good to me for
anything, and I have plenty to do for I am hard at work on my Century
articles.1
My financial affairs for the past year make such a bad showing that Edith
and I think very seriously of closing Sagamore Hill and going to the ranch
for a year or two; but if possible I wish to avoid this. I have written Douglass
to sell Sagamore,2 and replace the dogcart horse by one for Caution, or else
to replace your team (if I have purchased them?) by a mate for the dogcart
horse and one for Caution. He will of course show you the letters, I pre-
sume. If I stay east I must cut down tremendously along the whole line. Do
you know what the cost for manure and farming has been this year? I must
see if it pays to get my own hay and fodder — you'll have to instruct your
brother in countless details, you see, darling Bysie.
All these are bothersome matters, and I only write you them because I
did not wish to seem to tell Douglass only. I must live well within my income
1 Emily Carow, Edith's sister.
1 These articles appeared in the Century Magazine, vol. 145, in February, March,
April, and vol. 146, May, June, October, 1888. Subsequently they appeared in book
form as Ranch Life ana the Hunting Trail.
1 A favorite horse.
and begin paying off my debt this year, at no matter what cost, even to the
shutting up or renting of Sagamore Hill, bitterly as I should hate such an
alternative.
Meanwhile, at least 1886 has been as happy a year as any one could have.
With best love from Edie I am Your aff brother
I 7 1 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS
Florence, January 6, 1887
Darling Bysie, I have just sent off a letter to Douglass, anent Sagamore Hill.
You best of all good sisters, I think — at least I hope — things will turn out
all right. After Douglass'es letter I really did not have the heart to cable to
him to sell Sagamore; but in every other way I do think expenses should be
cut down to the lowest possible point. Would Seaman do as well with the
garden as Davis? If so, would not he and a boy to take care of the road be
sufficient for the place? You know, we mast live; and so I do'n't much care
whether I change my residence from New York or not. I have not the
slightest belief in my having any political future; and I can hardly reduce my
personal tax in New York without paying.
Would you mind seeing if my photographs from Anthonys (591 B'y)
have come home? I mean the last batch; with pictures of an elk in a wagon,
and of the white goats. And have my goat heads ever arrived from the west?
I do love Sagamore Hill; I will not give it up if I can help.
We left the Carows in Rome yesterday; it was very hard indeed for
them. Edith and I have just come in from a long walk in the Boboli Garden.
With many kisses to that sweetest baby; I just long to see you both. Yours
always
Remember me to "Sprice." l
172 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON RobinSO7l MSS.°
Sorrento, January 22, 1887
Darling Pussie, First, before I forget it, will you ask Douglass to send me
word where to get shoes in London? That was the only address I lost of all
he gave me. Here I have taken to whileing away the leisure hours by racing
up and down the neighbouring hills, which I think will improve my health —
1 Cecil Arthur Spring Rice, British diplomat; secretary at the Washington Legation,
1887-1888, 1889-1892, 1894-1895; ambassador at Washington, 1913-1918. Spring Rice
introduced himself to Roosevelt when they were fellow passengers on the way to
England in November 1886. Three weeks later the Englishman acted as best man at
Roosevelt's wedding. A man of great personal charm and wit, he became one of the
inost intimate friends of the Roosevelt family and circle.
which has not been benefited by rigorous sedentary seclusion and three
weeks of daily overeating — but which is not good for shoe leather.
I finished six articles for the Century, on Ranch Life, while in Rome, and
sent them off. I don't know whether the Century will want them or not. I
read them all over to Edith, and her corrections and help were most valuable
to me. Now I am rather wondering why my Benton has not come out.
Sorrento, and all the surrounding country is lovely beyond description.
Edith and I are enjoying it more than we have anything since our three really
ideal weeks of a wedding trip ended. The walks are lovely; I generally take
a moderate one with Edith, and also a brisk rush by myself. Italy I saw so
long ago that the memory was practically obliterated; so that our travels
have had the charm of almost absolute novelty. I had no idea that it was in
me to enjoy the "dolce far" even as long as I have. Luckily Edith would hate
an extended stay in Europe as much as I would.
We will be home the last week in March, and I shall then soon go out
west for a couple of weeks. The rest of the summer will be passed at Saga-
more Hill, most quietly, as behooves our straightenned finances. Do you
know it was a real wrench making up my mind to sell old Sagamore; I have
never had any one possession I valued so much or so hated to part with; but
it was a case of needs must dance when the devil pipes. How I wish the
ranch and all had turned out well enough last year for me to be a little ahead
instead of behind! Then I would have clung on to him anyhow. I never made
a personal sacrifice that came as hard to me.
Best love to spouse and babies; I hope the wee one is all right now.
Your extravagant and irrelevant, but affectionate, brother, the White
Knight
173 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE RMA. MSS.Q
Sorrento, January 24, 1887
My dear Spring Rice, My sister has just written me that you are again in
New York, and I hardly know whether to be most pleased that you are
once more on our side of the water, or sorry that you are not to be in Lon-
don when we get back there; for I owe you all the very pleasant times I had
last November. At any rate, Mrs. Roosevelt and I are looking forward to
seeing you, for just as long as you can stay, at Sagamore Hill; and you are
to come whenever you can.
Indeed you can hardly realize how much your kindness and thoughtful-
ness added to the pleasure of my stay in London. We have had a most de-
lightful trip in Italy, making our leisurely way from Hy£res — where I was
greatly interested in the queer Provengal tongue and traits of the people —
to Pisa, by carraige. We made but short visits to Rome and Florence, and
have now been for some little time here and at Capri; by the way, I wish
Italians did not so evidently regard a pedestrian as a lunatic.
119
I should have given a good deal to see the faces of some of my good Tory
friends when Lord Randolph Churchill resigned. I am glad to have met
Goschen; but I doubt if he can construct as well as he can criticise.1
With warm regards from Mrs. Roosevelt, I am Ever faithfully yours
174 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MsS.Q
Sorrento, January 30, 1887
Darling Bysie, We had a most charming trip to Sorrento, going over in a
delightful boat, with the canonical lateen sail and four men who might have
stood for pictures. Mrs. Carow stayed at Sorrento. The walks and rows
round the Island were delightful.
I have really been very glad to see Italy; I was too young to notice much
when I was here seventeen years ago. The sculptures and paintings have
been superb. Certain of the former I think I shall always keep clearly in my
mind; notably the Apollo, the Perseus, the Eros (not the faun) of Praxiteles,
the capitoline venus, when seen from the side — I hate the front view, which
is ordinarily given in photographs — and above all the dying gladiator. I do
not care much for the Pre-Rafaelite painters as a rule; but I could spend a
good many hours in the Vatican looking at the frescoes and paintings of
Rafael and Michael Angelo. Indeed, on my own account, I am delighted to
have seen Italy once more. Being a healthy man with a brain and the tastes
that any manly man should have, I of course would not wish to stay in
Europe too long; sight seeing with a Baedeker is not an enobling occupation
(Edith looks at it as I do, and so we have simply seen the things we wished
to).
A thing that always strikes me here in Italy is the immense quantity of
manual labor that has been done. For ages work has been cheap and plenti-
ful. The paths are paved with stone slabs, and run between high stone walls
that enclose gardens that we would hardly deem worth enclosing. The
mountains are all terraced; the squalid cabins are made from rock that will
last a good deal longer than most of our handsome wooden houses. But the
people! Praise heaven for America — even with the aldermen and the anar-
chists.
One evening we saw the tarantalla danced, and it was really very inter-
esting.
Edith sends you many kisses. Did Baby enjoy my letter? and the one
from me you brought her? Your loving brother
1 Viscount Goschen succeeded Lord Randolph Churchill as Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer in December 1886.
120
175 ' To CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON RobmSOU MsS.°
Venice, February 8, 1887
My darling Pzissie, From yours and Bysie's last letters I gather you never
received mine from the Corniche; I am so sorry, for I particularly wished
darling Pussie to hear at the time about the three absolutely idyllic weeks we
passed, as we leisurely journeyed along, most of the way in our own car-
raige, from Hy£res through the quaint provengal coast-country and across
the two Rivieras, with their wonderful scenery, to the beautiful bay of
Spezia.
Edith and I hardly know whether to be most uneasy over the little wee
Corinne's illness, or relieved that she was better. It must have been an awful
week for you and Douglass; indeed I realize what you both went through;
I can't say how glad I am things have turned out well, and I do hope the
poor little mites will be all right now. Of course I know they must be doing
all well or I would have received a telegram.
Edith and I are now alone again, and yesterday reached here, where we
have excellent rooms, looking out across the water to San Scorgia Magiore;
do you remember it, when we were here, more than seventeen years ago?
Venice is perfectly lovely; it is more strange than any other Italian town;
and the architecture has a certain florid barbarism about it — Byzantine,
dashed with something stronger — that appeals to some streak in my nature.
Then rowing through the winding water streets in a gondola does not dis-
appoint one, as so many European experiences do; and besides here the Ital-
ians simply carft be as dirty as they would like to be, and as they are every-
where else — I have a nice, charitable feeling towards foreigners, you see; in
fact one of my most charming and amiable characteristics is my gentle toler-
ance of moods of thought and habits of life that differ from my own.
To night there is a magnificent full moon, and so Edith and I will go out
to the Piazza San Marco.
I am delighted at having received Benton; reading it over it seems to me
a rather unequal book — good in places and rough in others.
I felt like a reprieved criminal when Douglass wrote he had not sold
Sagamore, and had not the strength of mind to telegraph him he must; but
I will hardly be able to hunt atall; it is an expensive amusement, and I am
down to hard pan, with a vengeance. Yours ever
176 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS
Milan, February 12, 1887
Darling Bysie, We, ended up Venice by having a real snow storm, giving the
place a very picturesque but wholly unlocked for aspect. Our stay there
though short was very pleasant; there is no other Italian town that has such
121
a charm for me — it gives me the feeling of being in the presence of van-
ished, old world splendour as neither Rome nor Florence does, and is ten-
fold as strange and romantic.
Here, also, I am very fond indeed of the Cathedral at any rate; I think it
impresses me more than any other building I have ever seen, more even than
St Peters (I do'n't include the old Eguptian and Greek temples) The lofty
aisle, with its rows of towering columns, white and shadowy, and the
fretted, delicate work above, all seen in the dim half light that comes through
the stained glass windows, really awes me; it gives me a feeling I have never
had elsewhere except among very wild, chasm-rent mountains, or in the
vast pine forests where the trees are very tall and not too close together. I
think I care more for breath, vastness, grandeur, strength, than for technique
or mere grace or the qualities that need artistic sense or training to appreci-
ate. Thus I honestly confess I do'n't care a rap for the preraphaelites except
as curiosities; just as I care for the Egyptian tomb paintings; but I am very
fond of the Sistine Chapel and of Raf aels great wall paintings in the Vatican;
still more of such statues as the Dying Gladiator; most of all of such very
different buildings as Karnak, Baalbek, the Parthenon and this very Milan
Cathedral. But perhaps on the whole I will always come back to my beloved
woods and mountains and great lonely plains.
We sail from Liverpool on March ipth; I suppose I shall be about three
weeks in the west soon after I return. I won't buy any claret in Paris after all.
Can you find out, without too much trouble, what furs of mine Gunther
has, and in especial if he has my mink skin over coat?
I so long to see Sagamore Hill again, with my rifles, in your gun case,
my heads and all. I shall fit up the top room as my study; the library is too
disturbed; and so I shall have up there as my sanctum to which people are
not to come — not even the guests, unless I specially invite them. With many
kisses for baby, Your loving
177 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Paris, February 15, 1887
Dear Cabot, I am delighted that you are pleased with the Benton; you can
easily imagine how pleased I was with your letter. If I write another historical
work of any kind — and my dream is to make one such that will be my
?mgnum opus — I shall certainly take more time and do it carefully and
thoroughly, so as to avoid the roughness and interruption of the Benton. Of
course from its very nature if it attracts criticism at all it will be savagely
attacked. It was not written to please those political and literary hermaphro-
dites the mugwumps.
1 Lodge, I, 51-52.
122
I wish them joy of Dawes. Hiscock2 is a good man — and a politician too.
By the way, don't you think Lowell has rather fallen off? Of course he
is a great writer; but there seemed to me to be a good deal of rather thin
matter, or else of wrong headedness; in certain of his "Essays" just out. But
of course there was much that was admirable; and I especially liked the
address on Wordsworth; and, saving your presence, don't you think that
much of it might apply to Browning? Not that I would compare the two.
A former friend and political supporter of mine, Harold Frederic,3 is
writing a serial in the Scribner's which I like very much; it is worth reading
— "Seth's Brother's Wife" is the name. Thank Heaven Henry James is now
an avowedly British novelist.
I have regarded with much dispassionate enjoyment the Corrigan-
McGlynn-George-Davitt-Papal controversy.4 May each vanquish all the
others! It is one of those few contests in which any result is for the good.
When will the Washington be ready?
Was the Senate wise in rejecting that amiable colored Democrat Mat-
thews? Yours always
178 ' TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON RobinSOn
London, February 27, 1887
Darling Pussie, I would have given a good deal to have seen the aimiable
Pinkey with his playmates; and almost as much to have seen how he got on
with "Sprice."
We have been here three or four days; and my English friends have been
very kind as usual. But Edith has been feeling the reverse of brightly for
some little time and now in addition has a very bad cold, so that she can't
go out at all, and I do not know whether we shall be able to before we leave
or not.
A young Lord North whom I once met out in the west, and to whom
I never showed the least attention, has been particularly kind. Last fall he
asked me down to his place for a week, but I could not go; now he has
'Frank Hiscock, Republican congressman from New York, 1877-1887; senator, 1887-
8 Harold Frederic, a journalist and novelist, editor first of the Utica Observer and
then of the Albany Evening Journal, London correspondent of the New York Times.
His best-known novels were The Copperhead (New York, 1893), and The Damna-
tion of Theron Ware (New York, 1896).
* Michael Augustine Corrigan was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York,
1886-1902. Soon after his installation he engaged in a conflict with a priest of his
diocese, Father Edward McGlynn, an active, vocal supporter of Henry George.
Corrigan, a conservative, forbade McGlynn to speak in behalf of George and re-
moved him from his pastorate on January 14, 1887. McGlynn was excommunicated,
but was reinstated in 1892 when four professors at the Catholic University decided
that his single tax views were not contrary to Catholic teaching.
1*3
repeated the invitation, asking us to set our own time; and if possible we
shall get down for a day or two. He also, happening to be up for two or
three days next week, is to take me to a steeple chase and a horse show, and
wanted to give me a dinner at his club; but I did not care to leave Edith.
Large, awkward, big-boy Grenf ell has been married, but a week ago, and
goes down to Italy tomorrow; but he called in to ask us to visit him when
he returned — which will be after we have left however. Buxton — the
mighty Nimrod, and also a member of parliament — has been the kindest
of all; he not only wants us to stay with him, but has actually hunted up and
presented to me a large number of sporting books he thought I might like.
Bryce, the historian, a charming man, and dear, gray little Lord Carnarvon
(whose two main life feats have been the excessively odd ones of governing
Ireland qua viceroy and translating Homer) have been very kind also. In
fact, if Edith were well, she might, even though it is not the season, see all
she wants of London and country life, among the swells, the litterateurs, the
politicians and all; but as it is I doubt if we can accept any of the invitations
— and, as you know, I do'n't in the least care to, as far as I am concerned,
only being sociable under the goad, as it were.
How I do long to see you aU again! Your loving
179 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON Robinson
London, March 6, 1887
Darling Pussie, Do'n't you think I have been a pretty good correspondent
this winter?
I have, as usual, been having great fun in London, and have seen just the
very nicest people — social, political and literary. Edith and I have just come
home from the Jeunes, where we had a most enjoyable lunch. Edith sat by
Chamberlain, who is an extremely gentlemanly man, and impresses me very
much with his keen, shrewd intellect and quiet force. I sat between Tre-
velyan,1 who was just charming, and a Lady Leamington who very politely
asked us to lunch. Her husband was also most polite — which puzzled me,
for I spent the whole time in trying to think whether he was not a man with
whom I had a very sharp encounter in New York once. However I could
not make up my mind, and he was polite to a degree. Mrs. Jeune has asked
us to dine to meet Lord Charles Beresf ord and Lord Harlington and Shaw-
Lef evre. I have been put down for the Athenaeum Club, and also taken into
the Reform.
Last night I dined at a Bohemian club, the famous Savage club, with
Healy and one or two Parnellites (having previously lunched with several
of the conservatives, Lord Stanhope, Seton-Karr and others). The contrast
1 George Otto Trevelyan, the historian, became over the years a valued correspond-
ent of Roosevelt.
124
was most amusing; but I liked Healy immensely. Later on I met a brother
of Stanhopes, who is a great radical and listened to a most savage discussion
with a young fellow named Foster, a nephew of the late Secretary for Ire-
land, who has also been very polite to me. I have enjoyed going to the House
of Commons, under the guidance of Bryce, the Historian, and a dear old
conservative member named Hoare, very greatly. It is amusing to see the
conservatives, fresh looking, well built, thoroughly well dressed gentlemen,
honest and plucky, but puzzle headed and hopelessly unable to grapple with
the eighty odd erratic Parnellite Irishmen. The last, by the way, I know well
of old — I have met them in the New York Legislature.
Hoare has asked Edith and myself both to go round to the House of
Commons next Wednsday afternoon. Goodby, darling Pussie; tell Douglass
I got the £ 1 50 all right. Ever your loving brother
I 80 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
London, March 7, 1887
Dear Cabot, In Paris we dined at the Jays,2 and there, to our great delight,
met Bigelow;8 and the following evening (our last before coining here)
dined with him at a restaurant. He was most charming; but, Cabot, 'why
did you not tell me he was an esoteric Buddhist? I would then have been
spared some frantic floundering when the subject of religion happened to
be broached. I'll tell you about it in full when we meet.
In Paris I went for two or three days to one of the riding schools, just to
see what they did; and I was struck by the fact that they really did teach one
something, instead of doing as at Dickels and most of our American so-called
schools. The first thing I did was to spend half an hour riding without stir-
rups, on a different horse each day; then jumping, etc., followed.
Here we have had a lovely time, as usual, and have met the very pleasant-
est people, social, political and literary. I have been greatly interested in the
debates in the House of Commons, a dozen different members whom I know
have taken me round there. Some of them I have met at dinner; among others
Chamberlain; who impressed me very greatly by his keenness, readiness and
force, and who by the way was thoroughly the gentleman; and Trevelyan
who was simply the most delightful dinner companion imaginable. Lord
Spencer and Forster were also very interesting. I also went out a little among
the Bohemians, of the Savage Club, etc., once dining with some of the Par-
nellites and sitting by Healy whom I really liked. Next week we dine out to
1 Lodge, I, 52-54. m
* Augustus Jay was second secretary of the embassy in Pans.
8 William Sturgis Bigelow, M.D., Boston physician and orientalist was primarily
responsible for the development of the Japanese Collection of the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts.
"5
meet, among others, Lords Harrington and Charles Beresford — different
enough, but each in his own way worth seeing.
I have been hunting in Essex and Norfolk; in a day or two I shall see some
hunting in Warwickshire, where we are going to spend a short time with the
Norths — I wanted Edith to see a really first class English country house;
but isn't it funny to think of a rabid American like myself having every
courtesy extended him by Lord North? Edith, thank Heaven, feels as I do,
and is even more intensely anti-anglomaniac; and I really think our utter
indifference, and our standing sharply on our dignity, have been among the
main causes that have procured us so hospitable a reception.
As for the hunting it is lovely; one is often six or eight hours in the saddle.
But the jumping does not begin to be as stiff as on Long Island; a five bar
gate which all of our American horses would hop over without thinking
will here not be attempted by more than four or five men out of a field of
perhaps two hundred. The brooks even are flinched by the great majority,
But on the other hand there is infinitely more headwork and knowledge of
the country required; I personally never attempt to do anything more than
follow some one else.
And the oxers and bullfinches though rare are most formidable. I wish I
could have hunted with the Quorn or Pytchely; but I knew no one there,
and preferred to hunt from my friend's houses rather than go off all alone
on a hired hack in a strange country where I knew no one. Best love to
Nannie. Yours
I 8 I • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cowks
Medora, Dakota, April 16, 1887
Darling Syne, I have thought very often and very lovingly of you, my
darling sister, since we left you alone in New York — that is, as much alone
as it is ever possible for you to be. Give many kisses to sweet Baby Lee.
The Tylers were just as dear and sweet as they could possibly be; I like
them all exceedingly; and Nellie does remind me of you. They did every-
thing in their power to welcome me.
Tell Nell I have sent him the two goat heads from Mandan.
Rob and Roy got out here all right; Merrifield just worships them.
At St. Paul I lunched with Mrs. Selmes at the Flandreaus;1 they were all
most pleasant, and I enjoyed myself greatly.
I am bluer than indigo about the cattle; it is even worse than I feared; I
1 Martha Macomb (Flandrau) Selmes, Mrs. Tilden R. Selmes, was the daughter of
Charles Eugene Flandrau of St. Paul. The Selmes family lived in Dakota, where
Roosevelt had stayed with them in 1886. Roosevelt spoke for many men when he
called the charming Mrs. Selmes "a singularly attractive woman.*'
126
wish I was sure I would lose no more than half the money ($80,000) I in-
vested out here. I am planning how to get out of it.2
Goodbye, darling; love to all. Ever yours
182 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Medora, Dakota, April 20, 1887
Dear Cabot, I was delighted to receive your two letters.
Your speech was admirable. Massachusetts is the important State; and
with the present infernal mugwumpian squint in the public eye you must
organize from now on to carry it. You were right in beginning the campaign
now. I am not on the ground; but after Rhode Island I feel nervous.2 I hope
Andrew may be buried out of sight.
I hate speech making and never feel confident of my ability to do more
than make a few pointed remarks in debate. However, I suppose I shall have
to do my best at the Federal Club; I shall certainly take a hack at the esti-
mable Godkin.
Well, we have had a perfect smashup all through the cattle country of
the northwest. The losses are crippling. For the first time I have been utterly
unable to enjoy a visit to my ranch. I shall be glad to get home.
The scrap of paper you enclosed me contains some excellent ideas, which
I shall try to use.
Give my love to Nannie and remember we are looking forward to seeing
you both in June.
I must be off, now, down the river; so goodbye. Yours ever
183 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, May 15, 1887
Dear Cabot, The Anti-saloon people are harmless enough. I shall deliver a
very short address.
•The extraordinarily good weather of the early i88o's had produced excessive op-
timism among farmers and stockmen in the region of the Dakotas. The severe
winter of 1886-1887 was the first in a series of bad winters and arid summers which
destroyed cattle and crops throughout the area. Many newcomers, like Roosevelt,
abandoned their unhappy ventures. The majority, however, bankrupt and disillu-
sioned, remained to give political expression of their discontent in Populism. For
a full discussion of the relations between climate, credit, settlement, and political
unrest, see John D. Hicks, The Populist Revolt (Minneapolis, 1931)1 especially ch. i.
For the effect of the bad winter of 1886-1887 on Roosevelt's herds and on the
Medora region, see Hagedorn, Roosevelt m the Bad Lands, ch. xxvi.
1 Lodge, I, 54.
"In a special election in February 1887, in the predominantly Republican state of
Rhode Island, the Democrat, C. H. Page was elected to succeed the Republican,
W. A. Pierce, whose seat in the House had been declared vacant because of alleged
irregularities in his election.
1 Lodge, I, 54-55. I2
I have just sent the Tribune the last clause of my unhappy Federal Club
speech in full; I will give the mugwumps something to howl over. I am in
for war to the knife with the whole crew. Am having a most absurd cor-
respondence with Tyler of Richmond.2
We have a jolly rowboat at Sagamore Hill now, all ready for you and
Nannie. Sagamore the horse will just be in good condition for you. The
Morrises won't let me see the old gentleman's papers at any price; so I am
in rather a quandary. Morse wants me to write the life anyhow.8 Yours ever
184 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Oyster Bay, June 1 1, 1887
Dear Cabot, We are all just too sorry that you two can not come; and even
more sorry that Nannie should still be suffering from the effects of her fall.
Well, it can't be helped; and you shall ride Sagamore some other time.
Last Saturday Edith and I spent the whole day in our boat, rowing over
to a great marsh, filled with lagoons and curious winding channels, through
which the tide runs like a mill race; we took Browning and the Matthew
Arnold you gave me along. By the way she is very fond of your favorite,
Clough. I only care for a few of his pieces — "Qua cursum," "Christ is Not
Risen," etc. Did you see in the last Century a most scathing review of Lord
Wolseley's article on Lee? 2 If that flatulent conqueror of half armed savages
chance to read it, it will just make his hair curl. What a fool he is! For him
to criticise Grant and Lee is like old Tippecanoe Harrison criticising Wel-
lington and Napoleon.
My life will be most uneventful this summer. Let me know how the
Washington gets on. Yours ever
185 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, June 23, 1887
Dear Cabot, I first saw your speech while at the Jays; it was pointed out to
me in the Post, with, mirabUe dictu, some sentences of qualified praise,
though with the usual covert sneer.
'Lyon Gardiner Tyler, son of President John Tyler, a Richmond lawyer who be-
came, in 1888, president of William and Mary College. Presumably, Roosevelt's
correspondence was about the comments on John Tyler in Thomas Hart Benton:
"[Tyler] has been called a mediocre man; but this is unwarranted flattery. He was a
politician of monumental littleness." — Roosevelt, Benton, Nat. Ed. VII, 154.
•Theodore Roosevelt, Gouverneur Morris (Boston, 1888; Nat. Ed. VII).
1 Lodge, I, 56.
'The author of the article was Garnet Joseph Wolseley, Viscount Wolseley, British
army officer, commander in many African campaigns.
1 Lodge, I, 56-57.
128
It was a very good speech; and it was just the chance you wanted — or
rather that I wanted for you. It was thoroughly dignified and that fact gave
its utterances of good will a genuine ring to them, that mugwump hysteria
lacks. It is in every way a speech you can be proud of.
Spring Rice stayed here a week. Once, not being an over good rider, he
let the polo pony Caution run off with him. On rejoining us he remarked,
with his quiet, cool little manner: "I never met a pony that had such a thor-
ough command over its rider," as his only comment.
Do you know, I can not help thinking John Jay more deserving to have
a place in the Statesmen Series than Morris, though the last is so much more
amusing. Jay left a mark that the other did not; and in fact it is only Morris'
criticisms on the French that give him his especial prominence. However, I
would far rather write about him than about Jay, as far as my own feel-
ings go.
Both my wife and sister send you all their best love. Indeed if I can I
will be on in the fall, if only for a day's hunting; now and then I let Saga-
more hop sedately over a small fence.
When will the Washington be published?
I am so very gkd Nannie is so much better. How I wish I could see you
both! Yours ever
1 86 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, June 28, 1887
Gracious Heavens, Cabot, do you really think I want to change that enter-
taining scamp Morris for dear, dull, respectable old Jay? Not much. I think
the latter had a good deal more influence on the country, but the other is
twice as good a character to write about — besides, I have him nearly
quarter finished. I only hope I haven't given Morse the idea I wanted to
change; he couldn't drag me into doing it.
Really I suppose the two lives cover so much the same ground that it
is hardly necessary to have both in the series.
Your "Confederate" speech2 was most excellent, as I told you; there were
several reasons why I was particularly glad you made it
•By the way is it possible for me to get at the full reports (only as re-
gards population, descent, families, etc.) of the last Mass, census? And what
number of MacMillarts Magazine had an article on Morris? By the way I
shall, I fear, have to crib a good many of your observations on the latter
1 Lodge, I, 57-58.
*In a speech made on June 17, 1887, at a dinner given by GA.R. men for Con-
federate veterans, Lodge said, in part: "We respect and honor the gallantry of the
brave men who fought against us. ... We have no bitter memories to revive, no
reproaches to utter. Reconciliation is not to be sought, because it exists akeady."
129
in The Atlantic — with proper acknowledgments, of course. I wish that
article was in with your other "Studies in History."
Best love to Nannie. Yours ever
TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cobles
Oyster Bay, August 20, 1887
Darling Bysie, The male Oysters have had several spasms of sociability re-
cently. Last Saturday Louis Bell gave a lunch to a dozen of us, to see some
Tennis. I drove over with Uncle Jimmie Grade, and walked back with
Emlen, Of all people, Johny Weeks play a match for a hundred and fifty
dollars, and lost it! We had great fun, and to day I give a similar lunch,
for rifle shooting, tennis etc. We are busily trying to get up a polo club
for next year; Emlen is very enthusiastic about it; and I think we will
put it through. It will be great fun. Did you hear about one of Uncle Jim-
mies new pair dying?
By the way, the other evening Laura (while we were having a most
pleasant dinner at her house with Alfred and Katie) suddenly went off at
a tangent; apropos of a killingly funny description by Aunt Annie of the
way Mrs. John Jacob Astor presided at the Niobrara League; I then told
my time honored anecdote of Mrs. John's remark to me, anent the Czar's
death, "Mr. Roosevelt, they are attacking us all over the world;" where-
upon Laura suddenly flared up, said that she had heard you tell the anec-
dote very often, always about Mrs. William Astor, and with the design of
showing how "purseproud" she was. I told her I would guarantee you
never told it as an instance of the Astors' being purseproud, and that I did
not believe you had ever told it of Mrs. William, for I was quite sure you
knew — through dreary repetition — that it was Mrs. John; and that I would
write you to ask. So please answer.
Give my best love to Nannie; I have written Cabot. We do so long to
see you Yours ever
I 88 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed'1
Oyster Bay, August 20, 1887
Dear Cabot, Not only do I never wish to glean where you have reaped,
but hereafter I shall be careful not to reap where you have gleaned; I have
a wild desire to incorporate bodily in my book about half your article on
Morris. I now have only about a fortnight's work left. I am in a great quan-
dary over the Pickering papers. Are they published? For reasons that you
know, September is the very month I can not leave here. If not published,
would there be any way I could have the letters from Morris copied and
1 Lodge, I, 58.
130
sent me? Could you tell me some person or firm to whom I could write to
have it done?
Oh, how I loathe the mugwumps. The Administration's record on Gvil
Service Reform is disgraceful; but all the mugwump papers are squirming
round it with sneaking dishonesty. Curtis spoke well at the conference; but,
went back on it in his paper. Still, the Civil Service Reform publications
are doing moderately honest work. What made Ames2 sign the soldiers ex-
emption bill? I was both sorry and angry at it. Will it not hurt his chance
for this year?
If I get an opportunity I am going to sail in to the mugwumps with
a sword dipped in vitriol this year. I hate hypocrites.
I am looking forward to visiting you next winter; I would give anything
if I could arrange to come this fall.
Won't you have to work pretty hard to get through your Washington
in time? I was glad you enjoyed Bar Harbour. We are going to try to get
up a polo club here for next summer. Ever yours
189 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, September 5, 1887
Dear Cabot, It was very good of you indeed to take so much trouble over
the Pickering papers; it greatly relieved me.
I sent off the Morris to Houghton & Mifflin yesterday. The work was
not as congenial to me as the Life of Benton. I don't know whether I have
done well or not. However I think I struck one or two good ideas. I laid
into him savagely for his conduct in 1812-15; when, I am sorry to say, some
of my worthy forefathers still continued much of the same mind with him.
Won't you find it very difficult to get the Washington through now
before Congressional work begins?
If I possibly can, I am going to visit Austin Wadsworth2 while you and
Nannie are there; say about the i6th or i8th of October. Sagamore is fit
as a fiddle. Frank Underbill has two new Geneseo horses besides Lady
Golightly. One of them, the Don, bucked his brother-in-law off yesterday.
They jump like deer.
Elliott writes me that of all people in the world, he and Anna have frat-
ernised with Browning!
We have been having tennis matches down here; in the doubles I was
'Oliver Ames, Republican Governor of Massachusetts, 1887-1890.
1 Lodge, I, 59.
•William Austin Wadsworth, a lifelong friend of Roosevelt. Member of a promi-
nent family in Geneseo, New York, he led the life of a country gentleman, man-
aging his estate, riding to hounds, assuming public responsibilities in the ^village of
Geneseo. Roosevelt, as Governor, made him forest, fish and game commissioner of
New York.
131
given a first class partner who won in spite of me. I have turned my share
of the "cup" into a new Winchester rifle that I have been longing for.
Has Spring Rice been to see you? Best love to Nannie. Yours ever
190 ' TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed'1
Oyster Bay, September 1 1, 1887
Dear Cabot, While I have waded into the Pickering-Morris wing pretty
fiercely, I have been careful to give full credit to the moderates, or "Union
Federalists," under Cabot. My own people were also Federalists; of course
they were merely of the rank and file.
Are you going to Philadelphia to the dinner? I could not accept. Where
will you stay in New York? The trains on Sunday go at such hopeless hours
that I do not know whether I can get in. If things go all right here I shall
go to Geneseo if even only for two or three days; but, oh, my too, too
modest friend, after such a jump as that you took with Ralph why taunt
me by a pretense of my riding anywhere near you? I shall follow you like
Peter — afar off.
Of course I have read your life of Cabot;2 Henry Adams' book I do
not know.
I envy you your hunting. Here we have not yet begun; and indeed it
is so far off and the arrangements are so inconvenient that I expect to get
very little this season. If we start a polo club I shall sell Sagamore and get
two ponies. You must be riding with a recklessness very shocking in parent
and statesman.
Do you see how the Newport cads have taken up the Duke of Marl-
borough? 8 Yours ever
Ipl -TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS
Oyster Bay, September 13, 1887
Darling Bysie, Things came with a rush even sooner than any one had ex-
pected.
Edith was taken ill last evening at nine, and the small son and heir1 was
born at 2.15 this morning. Edith is getting on very well; she was extremely
plucky all through. The boy is a fine little fellow about 8 1A pounds.
We were pretty nearly caught badly. Of course the nurse is not here
yet. Aunt Annie spent the night here and took charge of Baby.
Little Alice is too good and cunning for anything, and devoted to "my
1 Lodge, I, 59-60.
•Henry Cabot Lodge, Life and Letters of George Cabot (Boston, 1877).
'The Duke of Marlborough was about to marry Consuelo Vanderbilt.
1 Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
132
own little brother;" she will not allow her rocking chair to be moved from
alongside him.
I am heartily glad it is all over so quickly and safely. Yours ever
192 -TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON RoblTlSOn MsS?
Oyster Bay, September 20, 1887
Darling Pussie, I am writing in Edie's room; she did so thoroughly enjoy
your letter of yesterday, and is now telling me from the bed what I am
to say. She does hope you will come down and see the boy, any time after
the Tuesday next; she longs to see you and show you the funny little
fellow; and you know I do so want to see you before I go west. Edie wants
me to tell you that the boy hasn't a blemish and that his complexion is
quite good for one of his days. Alice remarked of him, very truthfully "my
little brother's a howling polly parrot." His eyes work with the irregular
independence apparently characteristic of extreme juvenescence. It is lovely
to see Edie with him. Alice watches him, especially when he "eats Mama"
as she calls it, with absorbed interest; Edith seems able to nurse him mag-
nificently. West says she has gotten along marvellously.
Edith thanks you so much, you sweet Pussy, for offerring your baby
clothes; but if her own do not arrive by that frail reed, Ashton Potter,
she will have to send in and buy them.
Alice insists that her brother's name is Theodore, not Ted. She was
greatly alarmed at your Teddy's proposal to whip. She says she will take
him away and let Teddy "just fight it out." I started her on to Boston
yesterday.
Bamie is coming here on the first; do come out here as soon as you can
and stay as long.
Best love to little Ted. Yours ever
I will write to Mrs. Robinson at once.
1 92 A • TO JAMES BRYCE Bryce Mss.°
Oyster Bay, October 5, 1887
My dear Mr Bryce, First let me thank you for the John Hopkins pamphlet.
It is an excellent study; the one criticism I should make would be on the
point on which I ani apt to carry on a war with George William Carter —
I think the population of the United States was as heterogeneous a century
back as it is now. New York had less of the Anglo-Scotch element then
than now. Even in New England the prominence of such names as Sullivan,
Shay (Shea), McClellan and Bowdoin, Revere, Fanueil show how promi-
nent the Irish and French Huguenot elements were. The German element
in the United States was quite as large then as now. The Catholic Irish
133
alone have enormously increased; otherwise the various ethnic strains are
comprised in much the same proportions.
I sent back your galley proofs, with marginal notes, to the House of
Commons. I think your book will mark an epoch as distinctly as that of De
Tocqueville. Excellent though Von Hoist is he has so many limitations that
his work must always be received with caution. I think that every one must
be struck at the singular success with which you have combined a per-
fectly friendly spirit to America with an exact truthfulness both of state-
ment and comment.
I am very much flattered that my article should be of the least assistance;
do you happen to have come across a piece on "machine politics" that I
wrote in the Century for November 1886?
Do you Mr Robertson, M. P.? I see he quotes me in his "American
Home Rule." Remember me to Miss Bryce; I have a small son now. Yours
faithfully
193 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cowles MSS?
Medora, Dakota, November 20, 1887
Darling Bye, Just a line to thank you for sending me so many notes; re-
ceiving no papers I am in the dark over the New York election, beyond
the fact that it has been a Democratic tidal wave. Well, the Republican
party seems moribund. The mugwumps have been regularly taken in by
Hewitt. I have written Houghton Mifflin & Co that I will leave here about
November ist (really not till the 4th).
I shall be in New York on the evening of the eighth; the Limited is
always on time, so I shall just be in season to dress for dinner. Can you
have a barber at the house for me? I can not get home till that day, as it
will even thus be crowding things a good deal; but I am very anxious to
see your friends before they sail. Ever your loving brother
P.S. If practicable a complete change of things — evening clothes & all —
had best be sent in for me and laid; then it will take me no time to dress.
1 93 A • TO JAMES BRYCE Bryce Mss.Q
Oyster Bay, January 6, 1888
My dear Mr. Bryce, You must by this time be tired of hearing your book
compared to De Tocquevilles; yet you must allow me one brief allusion
to the two together. When I looked over the proofs you sent me I ranked
your book and his together; now that I see your book as a whole I feel that
the comparison did it great injustice. It has all of De Tocqueville's really
great merits; and has not got, as his book has, two or three serious and
damaging faults. No one can help admiring the depth of your insight into
our peculiar conditions, and the absolute fairness of your criticisms. Of
134
course there are one or two minor points on which I disagree with you;
but I think the fact that you give a good view of all sides is rather funnily
shown by the way in which each man who refuses to see any but one side
quotes your book as supporting him. I was rather amused to see that the
Spectator considered that the facts you gave told heavily against Home Rule
— because our state legislatures were not ideal bodies and that similarly
the Saturday Review had its worst suspicions of democracy amply con-
firmed.
I was especially pleased at the way in which you pricked certain hoary
bubbles; notably the "tyranny of the majority" theory. You have also thor-
oughly understood that instead of the old American stock being "swamped"
by immigration, it has absorbed the immigrants and remained nearly un-
changed. Carl Schurz, even, has'n't imported a German idea into our poli-
tics; Albert Gallatin had something of the Swiss in his theories; our present
Mayor Grant, of Irish blood, will «serve» New York, whether well or ill,
solely by American ^principles*.
But I do not think that the Irishman as a rule loses his active hatred of
England till the third generation; and I fear that a good deal of feeling
against England — mind you, none whatever against an Englishman — still
foolishly exists in certain quarters of our purely American communities. But
they are perfectly ready to elect Englishmen to office; relatively to the total
number of immigrants many more English than Irish are sent to Congress,
for instance.
Did you notice that this fall we, for the first time in five years, beat
the Irish candidate for Mayor in Boston, because the Irish were suspected
of hostility to the public schools? though they warmly protested that the
accusation was untrue.
It is very difficult for an outsider to tell how your politics are trending,
nowadays. Very sincerely yours
194 • TO JONAS S. VAN DUZER R.M.A.
New York, January 15, 1888
My dear Van, I was, as always, very glad indeed to hear from you. I wish
we could have a meeting of our old set — O'Neil, Hunt, Howe, Hubbell,
Kruse, you and myself. I do not think our legislative work was wasted in
the least; I think we have a right to look at the years we spent in the
New York Legislature as honorable ones; I shall always be glad to think
of them.
Like yourself, I shall probably never be in politics again. I hope the
Republican party does not get into the habit of becoming a mere party of
reaction; I never had much sympathy with the Dependent Pensions bill.
Do you not think it would be dangerous to take the internal revenue tax
off whisky?
135
Ranching has been even less profitable than farming of late. But I am
very sorry you have suffered so much from illness, old fellow. My own
health has been excellent.
I have a small son now; and am settling down more and more to country
life for all but a couple of months of the year. My literary work occupies
a good deal of my time; and I have on the whole done fairly well at it; I
should like to write some book that would really take rank as in the very
first class, but I suppose this is a mere dream.
Elaine will be our next candidate, will he not? Do you not think that
Cleveland will be re-elected anyhow? I fear so.
Be sure and let me see you if you come to New York. Your friend
always
195-10 HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed'1
New York, January 15, 1888
Dear Caboty I have been waiting to see if I could not find your full inter-
view; but somehow I have missed it, and have seen nothing but extracts
from and condensations of it. Judging from these I should say that you
simply told the exact truth — that Elaine is the choice of the bulk of the
Republicans, that his name alone awakens enthusiasm, and, by inference,
that he would poll most votes. It is unfortunate, but it is true. Of course
the mugwumps don't like it; truth they abhor.
I am glad you like my Lamar resolutions.2 Whitelaw Reid8 insisted on
trying to carry through his abolition of whiskey tax scheme, in the Union
League Club; so I made a minority report of one, and after a hard fight
beat him. I do hope the Republican party can steer clear of becoming a mere
party of reaction. To pass a dependent pension bill and try to abolish the
total tax on whiskey are not symptoms of advance.
I am delighted you introduced your Civil Service extension bill; it is
on just such questions as that that we can make fart of our fight.
Choate will be with us in the next campaign. He views Elaine's nomina-
tion precisely as we do. Seth Low is preparing to bolt.4 I will give you
some points about Ashbel P. Fitch5 when we meet.
1 Lodge, I, 60-61.
'Cleveland had nominated his Secretary of the Interior, Lucius Quintus Qncin-
natus Lamar, an influential ex-Confederate, for a vacancy in the United States
Supreme Court. Roosevelt proposed three resolutions, unanimously adopted by the
Federal Club of New York City, against Lamar's appointment. The resolutions,
typical of Northern hostility to Lamar, criticized him for his former "anti-Union"
ideas. His nomination was, however, confirmed by the Senate.
3 Whitelaw Reid, journalist and diplomat, publisher of the New York Tribune.
* Seth Low, after an early career as an importer in his father's firm, became mayor
of Brooklyn, 1881-1885, and four years later president of Columbia University. From
1901 to 1903 he was mayor of New York.
8 Ashbel Parmelee Fitch, Democratic machine politician in New York City.
136
I will write you at once when I find out the time I can come on to
Washington.
Best love to Nannie. Yours ever
196 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, January 17, 1888
Dear Cabot, Can I come to you on the 27th?
I think your attitude on the Thebe-Carlisle case perfectly proper; the
only proper one in fact.2
I am very glad to hear what you say about the Republican attitude in
Congress towards the whiskey tax.
My minority report to the Union League Club, not being printed be-
forehand, was suppressed by our ultra-protectionist Committee — although
mind you I had aU the intelligent protectionists with me.
I advocated taking off the tax on tobacco and sugar and spirits used in
the arts; and the employment of part of the surplus in building a navy and
providing adequate coast defence. Whiskey I believe should be taxed.
Anent the tariff, I stated that both the Republican party and the country
at large were definitely committed to a policy of protection; that any
reversal of the policy at the present time would be in the highest degree
unwise; but that we certainly should not declare that the maintenance of the
present tariff unchanged with all its anomalies was a point to which every
other interest and issue should be subordinated.
Then I pitched into the Morrison bill8 as being ludicrous in concep-
tion and futile in execution; and made a savage onslaught on Cleveland and
Carlisle4 — for I did not wish the mugwump papers to regard my attitude
as in any way one of alliance with them.
I will tell you all about Low when we meet.
Give my best love to Nannie; Edith is so sorry she cannot come. Yours
ever
1 Lodge, I, 61-62.
* George H. Thebe, a labor candidate for Congress from Kentucky, was contesting
the election to Congress of Speaker Carlisle. There was a move to vote Thebe out
on a technicality; Representative Lodge took the position that he ought to be given
a hearing. Thebe, however, lost the seat to Carlisle.
*The author of this bill was William Rails Morrison, Democratic congressman from
Illinois, 1872-1887, at this time a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
During his term in Congress he presented various bills for tariff reduction, the most
noted being one, in 1884, for a 20 per cent reduction on all existing tariffs. It failed
by five votes.
4 John Griffin Carlisle, congressman from Kentucky, 1877-1890; Speaker of the
House, 1883-1889; senator, 1890-1893; Secretary of the Treasury, 1893-1897. He was
the outstanding tariff reformer in the House.
'37
1 96 A • TO JAMES BRYCE Bryce
New York, February 5, 1888
Dear Mr. Bryce, I have sent you back your three last batches of proof
sheets almost without correction. I have but one criticism that is in any
way serious to make; I think that you do not show that in good city dis-
tricts the "machine" is also generally good. Thus in our three Republican
N. Y. districts the "brownstone front" ones, we have good machines; the
three aldermen & three assemblymen, the district representatives as well as
the delegates to the County Committee &c, are really first class men; the
assemblymen and aldermen are all gentlemen — club men, of "Knicker-
bocker" ancestry, including a Hamilton, a Van Rennselaer, &c, &c. In none
of these districts is there least difficulty, now, in a decent man's getting into
the machine; the alleged difficulty is simply an excuse; and in such districts
a bad machine is a sign, not a cause, of political degeneration.
By the way, did you ever get my Century article on the N. Y. machine,
which I sent you?
Also, excuse my asking again, if I am to take yours and Buxton's letters
as being the formal announcement of my election into the Alpine dub,
as honorary member? Excuse my troubling you. By the way Goldwin Smith,
in criticizing my "Benton" in the ipth Century, has, I think, completely
misunderstood part of my sentiments. Do you know him? Very sincerely
yours
197 • TO LYMAN COPELAND DRAPER R.MA. MSS?
New York, March 5, 1888
My dear Sir, Pardon my writing you again. I appreciate thoroughly the im-
propriety of asking any one for information which by any possibility he
may himself use; but it occurred to me that possibly you might have some
matter you did not intend to do anything with that would nevertheless be
of direct application to my subject: just as you furnished material to Colonel
Durrett1 for his "Filson."
For instance, if you have any material concerning Boone that you are
not going to make use of — or anything about Crockett — it would be in-
valuable to me. Indeed any material, of no service to yourself, relating to
that period (1775-1815), would probably help me over dark points.
When is your "Clarke" coming out? I am very anxious to see it. I think
it the biography that we most need. No one has done justice to Clarke;
at least no one in the east.
I trust you understand that I do not wish for an instant to trouble you
1 Reuben Thomas Durrett, Kentucky lawyer, historian, author of John Filson, the
First Historian of Kentucky (Louisville, 1884), and Traditions of the Earliest Visits
of Foreigners to North America (Louisville, 1908).
138
by asking for anything you are unwilling to give; but I thought that in
your remarkably complete collection of mss. you might have material for
which you yourself had no use. Very truly yours
198 • TO LOUIS THEODORE MiCHENER Micbener Mss.°
New York, March 12, 1888
My dear Sir, I was very much pleased indeed to hear from you; having
been spending a week with Cabot Lodge, at Washington, I have only now
received it.
I do not know whether I will be able to go on to the convention this
spring or not, as I may be absolutely unable to get away.
General Harrison is one of the three or four men of whom I have
thought most seriously as our nominee. New York, we may carry; but you
are right in saying it is very doubtful. Then of course comes Indiana; but
do not forget Connecticut and New Jersey.
Harrison and Hawley1 would make a strong ticket, do you not think so?
I presume the first ballot will be on all hands a "favorite son" affair;
I hope to Heaven that your men will not break at once. As I say, while of
course I do not yet know whom to support, out of the three or four men
whom I would consider excellent nominees, yet I can say frankly that I
am quite as likely to support the General as any one of the others. Lodge
feels much as I do; he is doubtful as to which one of two or three men
will be the one round whom our votes must chrystallize.
With warm regards, I am Very truly yours
1 98 A • TO FRANCIS PARKMAN Pmkman M$S.°
Oyster Bay, April 23, 1888
My dear Sir; I suppose that every American who cares at all for the history
of his own country feels a certain personal pride in your work — it is as
if Motley had written about American instead of European subjects, and
so was doubly our own; but those of us who have a taste for history, and
yet have spent much of our time on the frontier, perhaps realize even more
keenly than our fellows, that your works stand alone, and that they must
be models for all historical treatment of the founding of new communities
and the growth of the frontier, here in the wilderness.
This — even more than the many pleasant hours I owe you — must be
my excuse for writing.
I am engaged on a work of which the first part treats of the extension
to our frontier westward and southwestward during the twenty odd years
1 Joseph Roswell Hawley, former Free-Soiler; onetime editor of the Hartford
Courmt; Union General; chairman of the Republican National Convention of 1868;
Republican congressman from Connecticut, 1872-1875, 1879-1881; senator, 1881-1905.
139
from 1774 to 1796 — the years of uninterrupted Indian warfare during
which Kentucky and Tennesee were founded and grew to statehood, under
such men as Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark, John Sevier, James
Robertson and Isaac Shelby. I have gathered a good deal of hitherto un-
used material, both from the unpublished mss. of the State Department,
and from the old diaries, letters and memoranda in various private libraries
at Louisville, Nashville, Lexington &c.
This first part I have promised the Putnams for some time in 1889; it will
be in two volumes, with such title as "The Winning of the West and South-
west," and perhaps as a subtitle "From the Alleghenies to the Mississippi."
I should like to dedicate this to you. Of course I know that you would
not wish your name to be connected in even the most indirect way with
any but good work; and I can only say that I will do my best to make the
work creditable. William Everett, John Morse or Cabot Lodge can tell you
who I am.
I do not know if you have ever seen a little series published in Boston,
the "American Statesmen"; if so, the first chapter in the "Benton" will give
you an idea of the outline I intend to fill up. Yours very truly
199 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoitileS M$S.°
Oyster Bay, June 17, 1888
Darling Bysie, I have only a moment to write to you, as I am in a great
hurry. Elliott has had a really hard illness during this last week. He has
had two abscesses on his neck; they prevented him from swallowing, and
drove him nearly mad with pain; to complicate matters he got a severe
attack of rheumatism. He looks ghastly, can not even sit up in bed, and
has been kept much under the influence of anyodynes; but the doctors say
he is now improving rapidly and will be down stairs in a few days. Aunt
Annie is with him.
Nellie Tyler came here on Thursday. She is just too dear for anything
and as fond of the long sofa chairs on the piazza as ever. Delightful old
Cabot suddenly turned up yesterday, via Jacob, who of course amused
him immensely. He is really enjoying himself, I think; and of course it is
the most pleasant thing imaginable for me to have him. Yesterday we all
went to lunch at the Underbills, to see the seventeen new polo ponies that
have been brought from the west. In the afternoon we played a game of
polo; Underbill and I against the two Thorpes and Harry Myers; each
side won a goal. The youngest Thorpe is a really excellent rider; I wish
you could have seen him sit a bucker. Today we all four drove over in
the high phaeton to see Elliott; but I was the only one they would let go
into his room. It was a beautiful drive.
I am just finishing an answer to some "recent criticism on America" for
Murray's Magazine; but I have waded into Lord Wolseley so that I doubt
140
if they publish it. Cabot sends his best love (he is now beside me). Yours
ever
200 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.Q
Oyster Bay, June 24, 1888
Darling Bysie, Your long letter was most interesting. I am glad my trophies
are better than Dunraven's. I think your informant was quite right about
the two alternates for Ireland. Give them Cromwell or Parnell; but not a
miserable half-measure Government, which irritates but can not control.
For the past two centuries England's policy in the Island has been a failure;
naturally, the Irish are now a very poor race indeed, and yet with some
good qualities.
Elliott is very much better but still extremely weak; he has had a hard
tussle with such a combination — an abscess, rheumatic gout, and inflamma-
tory rheumatism. I do hate his Hempstead life; I do'n't know whether he
could get along without the excitement now, but it is certainly very un-
healthy, and it leads to nothing.
Dear old Cabot staid here till Thursday; he was the same delightful, big-
boyish personage as ever. That evening we all drove over and had a really
charming dinner at the Crugers.1 She was really very interesting about her
Russian experiences. I had a nice chat with Leila the other day; she did not
seem to think that Mrs. Dugdale had been very polite to her in London.
The delicious Janviers arrived here yesterday; of course we are enjoy-
ing them immensely. Nellie Tyler is fairly revelling in the rest; she talks all
the time about how she misses you — lounging in the long chairs on the
piazza, singing duets in the evening, reading, and everything.
I am really exceedingly fond of the polo; we are getting to play much
better. Five of us play three times a week. Yesterday three got tumbles;
Underbill and Jack Thorpe were rolled over ponies and all.
My "magnum opus" gets along very slowly. Rather foolishly I took a
week off to write for Murray's Magazine an article in response to Arnold,
Wolseley &, co; but I doubt if they publish it — some of the expressions
are strong.
At Mrs. Crugers we met to our astonishment George Barclay; we have
asked him to stay here. Yesterday we went swimming. Your off. brother
201 -TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.°
Geneseo, New York, July 8, 1888
Darling Bysie, Last Sunday I met Mrs. Carow and Emily all right. Of
course it was everything to Edith to see them again; and they have been
1 Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger, Civil War colonel, was a prominent New York
State Republican; his wife, Julie Grinnell Cruger, wrote novels under the pen
name of Julien Gordon.
just as sweet as possible. They have the north room and dressing room, next
mine. Alice took to them from the beginning; I doubt if I have ever seen
her like a toy as much as she did the big doll Emily brought her; and she
is fascinated with Frio. Ted promptly grabbed the latter, who fears him
gready; and Fluffy the cat also rendered the unhappy Frio's life a burden.
Emily takes Alice over to Aunt Annie's to learn her lessons. Ted is too
merry, jolly a little soul for anything, and crawls round everywhere.
Our whole fourth of July party gave out, except Frank — nicer, and
larger, than ever. On the 3d there was a garden party at the Weeks, which
was really very pleasant, for the whole Seawahaka yacht club was in the
harbor. In the evening the O. B. yacht club gave a party at the Underbills
which was the best of the kind I have ever seen at Oyster Bay. Edith looked
as pretty as a picture, was thoroughly in the vein for it, and had in conse-
quence the pleasantest kind of time. On the 4th, after the yacht race we
had a great game of polo, all Oyster Bay being in attendance; our side beat.
On Friday evening Edith and I came up here. It is the dearest old
house — a regular old colonnial mansion, with the most delightful suites of
rambling rooms, and the greatest quantity of heirlooms in the way of fur-
niture and pictures. Edith is enjoying it immensely; it is a great rest and
change for her. The nominal cause of our coming was to see the sports
yesterday. They were great fun — riding at the ring, tent pegging, high
jump etc — and we ended up by a socalled "parade"; that is, all of us who
were on horseback, some twenty or thirty in number, took an hours gallop
across country. I was on the same horse I went foxhunting with last year;
a beautiful jumper. Then we all, farmers and everybody, came home to a
supper at Wadsworth's. I really like the whole set of fellows immensely.
Some of them live in the country round about, others come from Buffalo,
and even Rochester; they are perfectly simple and natural, and splendid
riders. This evening we all go over to dine at the Rowlands, tomorrow we
will dine at the Herbert Wadsworths. I think Austin and I will go down
the river in the canoe, to the latter place; but as a rule here the horse is
not only a beast of pleasure, but also the main means of locomotion. I like
the whole tone of the place; it is wholesome, and thoroughly American.
Edith, as I said, enjoys it more than I had dared hope.
I am inclined to think that there is really some chance, after all, of the
Republicans winning at this election; although I am by no means as hope-
ful as Cabot, for instance. We have a first class ticket; Harrison is a clean,
able man, with a good record as a soldier and a Senator. I do'n't like some
points of our platform altogether; but on civil service reform, and on the
admission of the north western territories as States (both to my mind points
of greater ultimate importance than even the tariff) it is sound, while the
Democratic platf orm is not I suppose I shall be on the stump a short while
this fall; and so I do not know whether I will get a real hunting trip in
the west this season or not. Your off. -brother
142
202 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, July 14, 1888
Dear Cabot, Edith and I are delighted at the prospect of your visiting us;
come at any time; only let us know as far ahead as you can, so as to arrange
things (not household arrangements, but with Douglas, Elliott, etc.). I am
going to make you play polo on one of my ponies. Douglas and Corinne
will be down, and perhaps Elliott and Anna; either at Aunt Annie's house
or here. We will shoot, play tennis, ride — do anything.
If you could only have been at Geneseo! I rode Archie one day; he is
the best saddle horse of them all, but on that day his forefeet were tender
and he would jump nothing of any size. I also rode the Deacon. He is a
much pleasanter horse to sit over large fences than Black Friar, but I doubt
if he is as safe a jumper, and I should hate to ride him in a hunt on account
of his pulling. Black Friar pulls too, but I can always master him, and
though rough, he is a high and safe jumper. Being out of practice he some-
times refused.
I am myself more and more encouraged over the political prospects. We
have got back only a small percentage of the mugwumps, but many of the
real Independents; of course we lose the office holders and some of the
Elaine Irishmen, as well as some excellent men on the whiskey question
(which I think it unwise to have put in the platform, whatever we did in
Congress — it is an ugly cry to meet) but the bulk of the temperance
people are with us, and we are undoubtedly making enormous gains on the
tariff question. Both here and in Geneseo the country politicians seem very
confident. But of course it is as yet guesswork. Yours
203 • TO RICHARD WATSON GILDER R.M.A.
Oyster Bay, July 19, 1888
My dear Gilder: I am not a modest man; but I really don't know what to
write you. The sketches will be on similar subjects to those in my book
which the Saturday Review, & Athenaeum & Spectator were most flattering
over. I can send you the reviews if you wish, only I would hate to have
them lost. The sketches or series will (feebly) portray a most fascinating
and most evanescent phase of American life; the wild industries, and scarcely
wilder sports of the great lonely plains of the far west. By the way, the
tide is to be "Ranch Life in the Far West," is it not?
I have been a part of all that I describe; I have seen the things and done
them; I have herded my own cattle, I have killed my own food; I have shot
1 Lodge, I, 69.
1 Typewritten copy of a handwritten letter.
143
bears, captured horse thieves, and "stood off" Indians. The descriptions are
literally exact; few eastern men have seen the wild life for themselves.
Is that egotistic enough! Warm regards to Mrs. Gilder. Yours always
204 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Oyster Bay, July 30, 1888
Darling Bysie, Corinne and Douglass spent till Friday with us and then
went over to Aunt Annie's. The Farrs are spending a fortnight at Oyster
Bay and have been over to play tennis every morning. George Barclay
came here Friday evening; he is a pleasant fellow, albeit much the reverse
of an intellectual heavyweight. We had two or three dinners; the Crugers
came over to one, & Julie was to my mind a trifle unrefined.
We played polo every afternoon, almost, and on Saturday had a match
with the Meadowbrooks. Our team consisted of Douglass, Farr, Jack Thorpe
and myself; theirs, of Elliott, Frank Appleton, Dick Richardson and young
Carroll. We beat them six goals to one; a pretty bad beat. Of course they
were only a scratch team. My duty was that of "rider out," as I had fast
ponies; at the very end of the game, when fortunately there was only a
couple of minutes left I got a tumble and was knocked senseless.
Harrison is personally a very good man, backed by a far better party
than the Democracy; and the Republican platform, though defective in
pkces, is quite as good as the Democratic. So to my mind there is no
comparison between the two candidates. Harrison comes from three gen-
erations of soldiers and statesmen; I think him much more of a man than
Cleavland. I think we have a fair chance of winning; but it is impossible to
prophesy as yet. Your off brother
205 ' .TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Oyster Bay, August 5, 1888
Darling Bysie, We were greatly interested in your letters from the North
Cape. Some day or other we must go to Alaska; I think it must be very
like Norway. I start west in three or four days, so that my letters will be
very much less regular hereafter, for I shall only have occasional chances
to send them.
Elliott and Anna, with Eleanor,1 came here on Thursday; and I really
think they have enjoyed themselves greatly, and it has done Elliott good.
Douglass has taken a holiday for the two weeks he has been up here, and
has had an uproariously jolly time. On Thursday evening Frank Underbill
drove us over in his four in hand to a very pleasant dinner at Louis Bells.
1 Eleanor Roosevelt, eldest child of Elliott and Anna (Hall) Roosevelt. In 1905
she married Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
144
The next day he took our whole party, including the Farrs, over on the
brake and coach — two four in hands — to the races at Huntington. We
had all entered our ponies for the half and quarter mile dashes — nine in
the former and five in the latter. Elliott won the half, I coming in fifth,
and ran second in the quarter, where I was third. Yesterday (Saturday) we
had great fun playing polo. We also have tennis, rifle shooting swimming
etc.
Old Mrs. Robinson is a regular lunatic. She had asked Alice up to Hen-
derson, and of course we accepted; but the old lady has just written that
she can not receive an extra nurse, and so can not have Alice unless she
goes under one of Corinne's nurses! Of course Corinne could not take her,
as her own children take up all the rime of their nurses; and anyhow, we
would not be willing to trust Alice to such an arrangement. Just at pres-
ent the good little thing is recovering from one of her bilious attacks; and
I am more put out than I can say that she can not have the change of air.
She is too sweet and good for anything; Eleanor plays all the time with
her; they had a small "party" yesterday. As for Ted, he crawls everywhere,
does his best to stand and talk — but fails — and is too merry and happy
for anything. I go in to play with them every morning; they are certainly
the dearest children imaginable.
As the time comes for going west, I feel frightfully homesick at the
idea of leaving Edith; and I shall also miss the children greatly. Of course
Emily is the slave of the latter. Mrs. Carow is not at all well; both she and
Emily have been very sweet.
You darling Bysie, we do miss you and long for you so much. Yom
loving brother
206 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MsS.°
Oyster Bay, August 8, 1888
Darling Bysie, Your telegram was characteristic of you, you darling sister;
it was just like you to send it.
Unfortunately, we will not have to take advantage of it; for Edith has
just had a miscarraige. She is getting on all right now. The mischief of
course came from my infernal tumble at the polo match. The tumble was
nothing in itself; I have had twenty worse; but it looked bad, because I
was knocked perfectly limp and senseless, and though I was all right in an
hour, the mischief had been done to Edith, though we did not know it for
over a week. So I shall not go out west for a fortnight, and perhaps not
then.
Dora is out here now, and is having a great time; she loves being with
the children. We had a terrible storm a couple of days ago, and among
other feats it took the roof clean off the bathing houses. Your aff brother
'45
207 " TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS
Chicago, August 22, 1888
Darling Bysie, This will probably be the last letter you will get from me,
unless I come out of the woods in time to send you one or two more on
spec. However, when you take into account my limitations, I have been
a pretty good correspondent, have'n't I? I am to be back in October, so
that the National Committee can if necessary call on me for any speeches
etc. I went in to see them the other day. They are quietly confident; and
evidently really think there is a first class chance of our winning. Hill is
a dreadful load for the democrats to carry; yet they know very well they
can not do without his support. Harrison is a very good man, and there
is no comparison between the parties, as regards their make-up. I think
the mugwumps — it is a gross misnomer to call them Independents — occupy
a very contemptible position. Yet I really take very little interest in what
people regard as the main issue; our nation covers a continent, and there are
fifty questions of more lasting importance to us than either free trade or
protection — questions such as the liquor laws, ballot reform, the civil serv-
ice etc.
West and I have started off in fine feather. We came on to Chicago by
the vestibule train, which is certainly extraordinarily -comfortable; there is
even a barber on board! by whom, incidentally, I had my hair cut off
short. We will stop a day at Medora, and then, with Merrifield and my
"friend without a conscience," go on to hunt in the Kootenai country; first
we will take canoes, and then go in on foot, with Indians to pack our
goods. My time has been so cut short that I do not expect to do very
much in the big game line; it is rather an exploring expedition, to prepare
for a hunting trip next year. By the way, when I come out, as I will have
to, next Spring, do'n't you think you and Edith had best come along, and
we'll go to the Yellowstone Park? It must be superb. Medora, Aug 24th. I
go up to the Chimney Butte ranch tomorrow morning; and come back to
take the evening train on. We met your affectionate old friend, Mr. Rogers,
senior, on the train coming out here, also on a hunting trip. He is a gay old
bird, but I quite like him. The boys were all here to meet me, and it
was really very pleasant seeing them. Goodbye, for a month. Your loving
brother
146
208 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MattheWS
St. Paul, October i, 1888
My dear Matthews,1 Being out on the range I have just received your very
kind note; the first lull there comes in this blessed campaign, into which
I find myself plunged head first the second I get out of the wilds, I shall call
on you to thank you, for I presume it is to you that I owe the offer. I should
like much to do the work; and will undertake it with pleasure if a little lee
way is allowed me to finish up some matters which I must get through first.
I appreciate your kindness in the matter very much, I assure you — and I
can answer for it that Lodge does to.
Remember me to Mrs Matthews. Very sincerely yours
209 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Oyster Bay, October 5, 1888
Darling Bysie, After reaching my ranch I had so much to do — being there
but five days — that I had no time to write so much as a line. I made pretty
good sales of my cattle.
I have just come home, and start again day after tomorrow, this time on
a political trip, as I am to take the stump in Minnesota and Michigan. Edith
is coming with me; it will be about a twelve day trip; and so at last she will
see the wonderful Mrs. Selmes, for we will visit St. Paul, as well as Detroit
and Chicago.
The house is looking too comfortable and homelike for anything. The
children are just darlings. Blessed little Alice was really overjoyed to see me;
she is sunny and merry the whole day long. Ted is the sweetest baby-boy that
can be imagined; he has now learned so many cunning tricks. It is very amus-
ing to see him with Alice. Emily, by the way, is excellent with children;
Eleanor insists on calling her Aunt Emily.
Freeman has asked me to do "New York" in his series of "Historic
Towns;" I have accepted. Cabot will do "Boston." Your aff. brother
2 I O ' TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed *
Oyster Bay, October 19, 1888
Dear Cabot, Many thanks for the books. We were delighted to hear of your
easy canvass; I think the permanence of your position in politics now is well
1 James Brander Matthews, a professor of literature at Columbia University. As
essayist, critic, writer of fiction, and lover of the drama, he was influential in Amer-
ican letters for thirty years. He was a close friend and constant correspondent of
Roosevelt. This letter is in answer to Matthews' request that Roosevelt write the
history of New York for the American Historic Towns Series, edited by the British
historian, E. A. Freeman. Roosevelt did contribute New York (New York, 1891;
Nat. Ed. X).
1 Lodge, I, 72-73.
147
assured by the very fact of the hard fight you had at first. As for the rest
of Massachusetts, I am especially interested in seeing Higginson2 beaten. Here
I am now acting as a kind of stop-gap orator.
Of late years I have been out in my political prophecies on two or three
different occasions, so I have some hesitancy in trying my hand again; but I
can't help thinking that this time we have our foes on the hip.
I hear of, and see, on every side defections from the Democratic ranks;
but I know of very few indeed on our side who have followed Seth Low and
Ashbel P. Fitch — the latter however, will I am afraid be reelected as a
Democrat. This county, usually 1500 Democratic, will I think be nearly a
stand off (I find my coachman, as well as various Democratic laymen, are
going to vote Republican, for the first rime). The silent — much the largest
— mugwump vote is with us this year. Our State Committee honestly believe
a tidal wave has come in our favor; Quay3 is much more cautious; but even
he told me today he thought we should win. On all sides I hear of huge work-
ingmen's clubs that are out in our favor. Hill has a tremendous pull among the
workingmen, however, for some inexplicable reason; he is as bad as Tweed,
though more careful; but Miller4 is making an admirable fight.
Of course we are bound to lose some Elaine Irishmen — I think only a few
— and some Germans on the liquor question; but it certainly looks as if these
losses would be made good many times over.
Edith and I had immense fun on our campaigning tour in the West; I'll
tell you all about it: I am just hungry to see you and Nannie again. Yours ever
211 -TO THE REPUBLICAN VOTERS OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK Printed l
New York, October 19, 1888
Before casting your votes for Mayor on Nov. 6 next I trust you will exam-
ine the following figures: You have in the person of Mr. Erhardt an unexcep-
tionable candidate for whom to vote. I take it for granted that you earnestly
desire his success. But sometimes the Republicans of this city on the eve of
victory become panic-stricken and defeat their own candidate because they
•Thomas Wentworth Higginson, an untiring author of celebratory biography, occa-
sional and familiar essays, popular history. As a reformer, he interested himself in
abolition and woman's suffrage. In 1888 he was running for Congress on the Demo-
cratic ticket in Massachusetts.
•Matthew Stanley Quay, Republican senator from Pennsylvania, 1887-1889, 1901-
1904, was the dominant influence in the politics of his home state from 1885 until
his death in 1904. As chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1888, he
managed Harrison's campaign with unusual skill.
MVarner Miller, paper manufacturer, leading New York Republican; member of
Congress, 1879-1881; senator, 1881-1887. Primarily because of his advocacy of high
h<luor Censes, he lost his race for the governorship in x888 to David Bennett Hffl.
"This letter is from an unidentified clipping in the Roosevelt Scrapbooks in die
Harvard College Library.
148
believe that to vote for him is to throw away their ballots. The present
Mayoralty contest somewhat resembles that of 1886, but is far more favor-
able to us, because there are now three opposing candidates instead of two.
In that year the Republican candidate for Mayor polled 60,000 votes; Mr.
Hewitt, who was elected, polled 90,000. The Republican State ticket, which
did not run well, nevertheless polled 78,000, or 18,000 more than the Mayor-
alty ticket. These 18,000 extra votes were, as a whole, taken from the Repub-
lican candidate for Mayor and cast in favor of Mr. Hewitt, thereby electing
him. Had they stood by their own candidate, he would have been elected by
6,000.
This year the Republican vote will be much larger than in 1886, while
on the other side, Grant, Hewitt and Coogan will divide the vote among
them, thus giving the best opportunity that we have ever had to elect a
Republican Mayor. Such being the case, a very cursory examination of the
figures of the election in 1886 should convince any one that loyalty on the
part of the Republicans to Mr. Erhardt will insure his election.2
2 I 2 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE R.M.A.
Oyster Bay, November 18, 1888
Dear Cecil, It was very good of you, and just like you, to send us those rare
prints; indeed we appreciate them very highly, and we appreciate even more
your thoughtfulness in sending them to us.
I am now recuperating from the Presidential campaign — our quadrennial
Presidential riot being an interesting and exciting, but somewhat exhausting,
pastime. I always genuinely enjoy it and act as target and marksman alter-
nately with immense zest; but it is a trifle wearing.
I have adopted polo this summer. We have an aboriginal polo club at
O. B. now, and this summer played a match with a third-rate Meadowbrook
team and beat them — I getting knocked senseless at the end of the match.
I went to the Kootenai country this fall and shot a bear and a bull caribou
I am hard at work at a volume of history, to be published next spring; and
Freeman (your man) has asked me to write a volume for his "historic towns"
series. So I have plenty to do, and though my ranch almost burst me, I am as
happy as a king — to use a Republican simile. My wife and babies are well.
Goodbye and good luck, old fellow; when are you coming here again?
I wonder if I shall ever get to London. Yours ever
You were awfully good to my sister in London.
•The results of the election were: Hugh J. Grant, Tammany candidate, 114,111;
Joel B. Erhardt, Republican candidate, 73,037; Abram S. Hewitt, supported by
the County Democracy and many Independents, 71,979; James J. Coogan, candi-
date of the remnant United Labor Party which in 1886 had supported Henry
George, 9,809.
149
2I2A • TO THOMAS RAYNESFORD LOUNSBURY Loimsbury
Oyster Bay, December 8, 1888
Dear Sir,1 It is always a rather doubtful pleasure for an author to receive from
a stranger a letter in reference to his books, and I am very rarely indeed guilty
of the offence of writing such a note; but for the last five years I have taken
such genuine pleasure from your "Life of Cooper" that I have finally con-
cluded to tell you so. I am not a very great reader; but some books — like
yours, or Trevelyan's two biographies — are unceasing sources of pleasure
to me. Moreover, as a very sincere American myself, I feel like thanking you
for the genuine Americanism of your book; which is quite as much displayed
in its criticisms as in its praises.
On one point of the "Naval History" my conclusion is different from
yours. I studied the battle of Lake Erie quite carefully a few years ago; and
I certainly do not think Elliot acted properly. I doubt if his conduct was
intentionally bad; it was simply exactly like that of a number of different
division commanders in various battles of the Civil War. He failed to do all
he could. Perry had a greatly superior force to the English; and the latter
were only able to hold their own as long as they did because they handled
themselves so much better than their foes. Have you ever seen Professor
Soley's comparison of the histories of Cooper and James? 2
Again thanking you for many pleasant hours, and for a real addition to
my stock of ideas. I am Very sincerely yours
2 I 3 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed 1
Oyster Bay, December 16, 1888
Dear Cabot, The enclosed note from Merriam, the Governor-elect of Minne-
sota, seems to me very satisfactory.2 Show it to Reed. Do you think he, or
1 Thomas Raynesf ord Lounsbury, professor of English and librarian at the Sheffield
Scientific School, Yale University. A vigorous, imaginative teacher of literature, he
was also a great and careful scholar. His work on Chaucer remains a classic state-
ment.
'James Russell Soley exerted a resourceful, inquiring mind, at all times needed,
occasionally found, and seldom appreciated, on the intellectual life of Annapolis. He
was originally a Professor of Ethics and English, later a Professor of Mathematics.
Leaving academic life, he became a partner in Tracy, Boardman & Platt, the law
office of Secretary of the Navy B. F. Tracy. As a scholar his major contributions
were the editing of the Civil War naval records and several naval biographies.
1 Lodge, I, 73.
•William Rush Merriam was Republican Governor of Minnesota, 1889-1892; later
Director of the Twelfth Census, 1898-1903. His support was being sought for Reed's
effort to obtain the speakership.
150
you, should write Merriam? The Tribune wouldn't print the part of my
short speech at the Federal Club in which I backed Tom Reed.3
I also enclose a letter from my dear old uncle, Capt. Jas. D. Bulloch. It
explains itself. He wishes to know if he is entitled to a pension as a veteran
of the Mexican war. Would it bother you too much to have your secretary
or somebody find out about it? It is literally everything to him. Yours
2 1 4 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed *
Oyster Bay, December 27, 1888
Dear Cabot, Dana's letter was simply delicious;2 do you notice that those
fellows have a regular dialect? I can tell the Professional Civil Service Re-
former — who never really does anything for what he calls "the Reform" —
if I can see two sentences of any of his speeches or writings.
I fairly chuckled with delight over your answer; I do hope he reads it
aloud to the surviving vice-presidents of his body. I wish it could be pub-
lished; I think it would "brace up" the "reformers" themselves in a very
healthy manner.
Speaking quite dispassionately I believe we who have really worked hard
to take the civil service from politics have been far more hurt than helped
by the loud-mouthed advocates of the cause during the past few years.
As for Godkin I have long believed him to be a malignant and dishonest
liar; I am not surprised at aught he does. Yours
Do get the Washington off your hands.
2 1 5 • TO CHARLES JOSEPH BONAPARTE Bonaparte Mss.°
New York, January 27, 1889
My dear Sir,1 Many thanks for your kind letter; it is a pleasure to me to have
been put in personal communication with you. I am glad to say that I find
I will be able to attend the "conference" on Saturday the 23d after all.
'Thomas Brackett Reed, Republican member of Congress from Maine, 1879-1899;
Speaker of the House, 1889, 1804-1899. Roosevelt said at the Federal Club, Decem-
ber 13, 1888: "I hope Tom Reed . . . will be Speaker. . . . He is an excellent par-
liamentarian and presiding officer, a clean, strong man of very unusual ability, with
courage, tact, and decision peculiarly suited to control a House as narrowly divided
as the next is likely to be."
1 Lodge, I, 73^74.
•The delicious letter was written by Richard Henry Dana, Boston lawyer, son of
the author of Two Years Before the Mast. He drafted the Massachusetts Civil Serv-
ice Reform Act of 1884.
1 Charles Joseph Bonaparte, a lawyer in Baltimore, was active in the cause of polit-
ical reform. He became one of the founders of the National Civil Service Reform
League. It was this interest in civil service which first brought him into contact
with Roosevelt. In 1905, Roosevelt appointed him Secretary of the Navy, and in
1906 Attorney General, an office he held until 1909. He was a grandson of Jerome
Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother.
15*
I heartily agree with your views. By the way, none of the Cleavland party
have disappointed me more than Secretary Fairchild.2 I do hope we can rely
on Harrison not to repeat the sham process; certainly I think our conference
may do real good. Foulke3 of Indiana will I presume be present. Will Henry
C Lea4 of Philadelphia come? I tried to get Joseph Choate to come with me,
but he has an engagement down south at the time.
I have the honor to be Very sincerely yours
2 I 6 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS Mss.Q
New York, February 6, 1889
Darling Bye, I was delighted to get your note, and hear of the good time you
were having. Tell Nannie and the declicious Cabotty that I am really long-
ing to see them, and look forward eagerly to the visit. I am still struggling
dismally with the final chapters.
I enclose a letter from Ronald;1 and I will meet 'tother brother all right.2
I send a note to Hector care of Cabot.
On Friday Harrison Jr3 — the son of the grandson — lunches with me
at the Down Town Club; Wise,4 who is to be one of the guests, suggests that
we get him very drunk and find out about the cabinet.
Last night at the Civil Service Reform Association Godkin and I — who
do'n't speak in private — had a ceremonious but animated discussion, which
"Charles Stebbins Fairchild, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, 1885-1887; Secre-
tary, 1887-1889. A Democrat by inheritance, Fairchild had been a pupil of Seymour
and ally of Tilden. With Tilden he fought corruption in politics, conducting the
prosecutions in the canal ring fraud. His wannest friendship was with Manning,
under whom he served and whom he succeeded. An able and conscientious admin-
istrator, Fairchild was an avowed supporter of civil service, but Roosevelt felt that
he had failed to uphold his principles.
"William Dudley Foulke, author, biographer, president of the Indiana Civil Serv-
ice Reform Association, a leader in the national movement for civil service reform;
later, during Roosevelt's presidency, a United States Civil Service Commissioner.
* Henry Charles Lea, publisher, historian, philanthropist, one of the first supporters
of civil service reform. A man of diverse talents, Lea was an active exponent of
good government, an amateur authority on conchology and botany, and a historian
of the medieval church.
1 Ronald Munro Ferguson, Scottish landlord, member of Parliament, later Lord
Novar. A close friend of Cecil Spring Rice, he met Roosevelt during a visit to
America in 1887.
•Robert Hector Munro Ferguson settled in America. He became an intimate friend
of Roosevelt. Later he married Isabella Selmes, daughter of Roosevelt's friends, the
Tilden R. Selmeses.
* Russell Benjamin Harrison, son of Benjamin Harrison, at this time a newspaperman
in New York.
4 John Sargeant Wise, lawyer, politician, author of The Lion's Skin (New York,
1905); member of Congress, 1883-1885. A Republican, originally from Virginia, then
practicing law in New York.
ended by glancing rather widely to Dudley and Gorman.5 The Leavitt's din-
ner was nice — but not exhilerating. Edie went to the opera last night. I
wonder why "Life" is so bitter against Minister Phelps.6 Your aff brother
2 1 7 • TO CHARLES JOSEPH BONAPARTE Eonafarte Mss.°
New York, February 1 1, 1889
My dear Sir, If you think it will be of service, I will of course make a five
minutes speech, as you propose. By the way, I hope that of the three main
speakers two will be men who have voted for Harrison. I hope you can se-
cure Choate; the bait you mention is an attractive one. I shall bite at it myself.
But unfortunately I can not come until the owl train on Friday night, as on
that evening I have an engagement to introduce the author of our ballot-
reform bill, at a meeting in New York. We need ballot reform here pretty
badly.
I am very anxious to see you, and talk over what we can do to keep the
incoming administration straight. Would it bother you to drop me a line
telling you what hotel is a good one? With great regard, very truly yours
2 I 8 • TO WILLIAM GEORGE PELLEW R.M.A. MSS.Q
New York, March 12, 1889
My dear George, I am delighted that you are to do Jay for Morse's series;
he belongs there, and you are preeminently the man to do it. My own esti-
mate of the man is only that of a man who has come across him in connection
with his other studies; but I think that in the few sentences in his letter you
have hit him off very correctly. He was both an aristocrat and a patriot —
or rather he was a true American, impatient of tyranny, and fearing a mob
as much as a king; the way was much less clear for men like Morris and Jay
than for men like Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry in the Revolution; to
a certain extent they had to choose between caste and country.
I do not know of any sources of original information save in the Jay
papers which you will of course carefully examine, and in the State Depart-
ment at Washington; Miss Mary Putnam has gone into the latter; you had
best go to the Putnams about it. As for your second request, I am rather in
a quandary how to help you. Do you know Elihu Root? or Walter Howe?
I could give you letters to either, and I think they are pretty well posted on
Republican politics. Yours sincerely
'Arthur Pue Gorman, Democratic senator from Maryland, 1881-1889, 1903-1906.
A powerful influence on his party, he managed Cleveland's first campaign, traded
Democratic support of free silver for Republican aid on the defeat of the Force
Bill (1890), added the Senate amendments to the Wilson-Gorman tariff (1894).
'Edward John Phelps, Vermont lawyer; United States Minister to Great Britain,
1885-1889.
'53
2 1 9 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Slltff t
New York, March 25, 1889
Herewith please find one dollar, my subscription for 2 years to the Civil
service chronicle;1 I am exceedingly pleased that so active and vigorous a
paper has been started to aid the attack on the spoils system Yours truly
22O • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, March 25, 1889
Dear old Cabot, You are certainly the most loyal friend that ever breathed.
Edith and I were more touched than I can say over your letter; all the more
so from its absolutely unexpected nature. I hope you will tell Bkine how
much I appreciate his kind expressions.2
I would have particularly liked to have been in Washington, in an official
position, while you were in Congress; we would have had a very good time;
and so I would have been glad to have been appointed. But aside from this
feeling — and of course the pleasure one feels in having one's services recog-
nized — it is a good deal better for me to stay where I am. I would like above
all things to go into politics; but in this part of the State that seems impossible,
especially with such a number of very wealthy competitors. So I have made
up my mind that I will go in especially for literature, simply taking the part
in politics that a decent man should. I am going to keep my residence in the
city because I have more hold here.
I was much amused the other day at an editorial in the Times about your
Winchester system;8 it was fairly complimentary though of course it's mug-
wump mind felt a certain suspicion of the affair. Whitridge,4 by the way, has
apparently suffered a change of heart; he spoke with bitter contempt of
the futility of the average reformer, the other evening, and casually men-
tioned that he regarded you as the most promising young man in America!
I fairly gaped at him.
Give my best love to Nannie, from both Edith and myself, and with the
very heartiest thanks, old fellow, I am Ever your -friend
1 Lucius Buirie Swift, lawyer, civil service reformer, organizer, with William Dudley
Foulke, of the Indiana Ovil Service Reform Association, was editor and publisher
of the Civil Service Chronicle, 1889-1896.
1 Lodge, I, 74-75.
•Lodge was urging Roosevelt's appointment as Assistant Secretary of State.
'The Winchester System was a partisan method for selecting postmasters.
4 Frederick Wallineford Whitridge, New York lawyer. He was very active in the
establishment of the New York Civil Service Reform Association, for which he
became legal counsel See Appendix HI in Volume H.
154
221 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed 1
New York, March 27, 1889
Dear Cabot, I will call on Grant2 tomorrow. I don't know at all whether
Rosy3 will or will not stay.
The appointment of Lincoln4 is admirable. Rice5 — well, less admirable.
Reid 6 and Halstead 7 are individually good appointments, though I am utterly
against editors being given political positions, as a principle.8
I am glad that the Railway Mail Service has been changed as it has been;
but I hope there won't be a sweep of the fourth class postmasters. Your post
office methods are the proper ones — wait until the incumbent's term has
expired, and fill his place with the man the majority of the Republicans think
best fitted.
I dined with Whitney9 last night. He is evidently thoroughly familiar
with your career. I was rather surprised to see how well he understood it.
Yours ever
222 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, March 30, 1889
Dear Cabot, I am really pleased to hear about Tom Reed; I value his friend-
ship.
We are threatened with a real calamity here, for I learn that Harrison
1 Lodge, I, 75.
'Frederick Dent Grant, the son of Ulysses S. Grant; United States Minister to
Austria, 1889-1893. Later he served on the New York City Police Commission with
Roosevelt.
•James Roosevelt Roosevelt, a distant cousin of Theodore Roosevelt. He was the
son of James Roosevelt, New York lawyer, who, by his second marriage, was the
father of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Rosy was a secretary at various United States
ministries and legations during the i88o's and 1890*8.
* Robert Todd Lincoln had been appointed minister to Great Britain.
5 Charles Allen Thorndike Rice, journalist, politician, archaeolgist, friend of such
disparate characters as Henry George, Victor Hugo, Prince Napoleon, and Robert
Browning. A brilliant personality, Rice was the resourceful editor (1876-1889) of
the North American Review which he restored to its early position of influence and
intellectual leadership. Appointed minister to Russia at thirty-eight, he died before
he could assume office.
* Whitelaw Reid had been appointed minister to France.
7Murat Halstead, editor of the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, 1865-1884; of the
Brooklyn Standard-Union, 1884-1889; biographer of Theodore Roosevelt. He was
known as a brilliant journalist and an influential Republican. In 1889, President Har-
rison nominated him as minister to Germany, but the Senate rejected him because
of articles he had written denouncing the purchase of senatorial seats.
8 The appointment of editors by Harrison who, as senator, had criticized "the sub-
sidized press" was a source of perpetual irritation among reformers. The reform
editor Lucius Swift took delight in "publishing long lists of editors" who were
given official positions. In Kansas alone thirty-three were made postmasters.
* William Collins Whitney had just retired as Secretary of the Navy.
1 Lodge, I, 76.
155
thinks of making an ordinary ward politician, Van Cott,2 a Platt henchman,
postmaster; a horrible contrast to Pearson. It would be an awful black eye
to the party here; a criminal blunder. Platt8 seems to have a ring in the
President's nose as regards New York. I feel very uneasy over it; have put in
a strong counter plea.
Good bye, old fellow; curse patronage — but neither that nor anything
else will kill you. Yours
223 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, April, 1889
Dear Cabot, I hope you will be here on Saturday the zyth; Ernest Crosby,2
our "high license" man, and a first rate fellow, will be here to dinner, and
perhaps Choate; do come; I want to see and talk with you dreadfully. I do
hope the President will appoint good civil service commissioners; I am very
much discontented with him so far; in this state he has deliberately built up a
Platt machine. Yours
224 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE RMA. MSS.°
New York, April 14, 1 889
Dear Cecil, Last fall's campaign being now a thing of the long past, I venture
to write you again. Besides, just at present our statesmen seem inclined to
* Cornelius Van Cott, a politician who worked his way up through the visual muni-
cipal offices in New York City. He replaced Henry G. Pearson as postmaster of
New York City in 1889. Pearson, an admirable official, was once the target of a
Brooklyn politician who complained, "We cannot have any aid from the New
York Post Office this fall's election. ... My God, was there ever a party cursed
with such appointments." The appointment of Van Cott was the first indication
to reformers that Harrison was not interested exclusively in civil service reform.
Roosevelt himself wrote to Harrison on this same day urging the retention of
Pearson.
"Thomas Collier Platt, Republican senator from New York, 1881, 1897-1909. A
close friend of Roscoe Conkling, Platt rose to prominence in New York politics in
the rSyo's, and suffered reverses after Conkling's falling out with Garfield. He
regained his influence by 1888. Capable of ruthlessness, he preferred to rely on per-
suasion. Explaining Plates success, one of his intimates wrote: "Now, Platt had
mental feelers', antennae . . . those things that bugs and women have ... and it
was one of the secrets of his power that he was able to sense what was bound to
happen anyway, to get behind it at the appropriate time, and then to claim the
credit for having brought it about, which he did unfailingly and a little lustily"
(Lemuel Quigg to Roosevelt, April 7, 1913, Quigg Mss.). At the height of his career
in the 1890 s, the easv boss" found Roosevelt a disturbing and important factor
in his political calculations. Antithetical in character, often at odds in their objec-
taves, they nevertheless understood each other, and succeeded in working together.
1 Lodge, I, 77.
'Ernest Howard Crosby, New York lawyer, politician, philanthropist. He succeeded
Roosevelt in the state Assembly (1887), was nominated by Harrison as a judge of
in £lv^SIi0oalt * Egyptj where he served from I88p to l894' See
I56
abandon the tail of the lion, and instead are plucking vigorously at the caudal
feathers of that delightful war-fowl, the German eagle — a cousin of our
own bald-headed bird of prey. Frankly, I do'n't know that I should be sorry
to see a bit of a spar with Germany; the burning of New York and a few
other seacoast cities would be a good object lesson on the need of an ade-
quate system of coast defences; and I think it would have a good effect on
our large german population to force them to an ostentatiously patriotic dis-
play of anger against Germany; besides, while we would have to take some
awful blows at first, I think in the end we would worry the Kaiser a little.
Clough (who lunches here today) dined here the other night to meet the
Cleavlands Whitneys and a few other, as we did up all our democratic friends;
I doubt if he knew exactly what to make of the ex-president. Mrs. Whitney
said all sorts of nice things about you. Whitney himself is certainly a very
able man. Harrison does not yet seem to have a very firm grip; it is still quite
on the cards that Cleavland may come in again in '92. 1 think our new minis-
ter, Bob Lincoln, is a very good fellow.
By the way, when Geo Haven Putnam goes to London this spring I shall
give him a note to you, though I suppose you will remember him; he is
among the salt of the earth. His wife goes with him this year; she is a decid-
edly bright woman, but very far short of his standard in every respect —
my own wife and sister dread her very presence, so you had best proceed
cautiously about her. But he himself is a trump.
I hope the first two volumes of my book on the west will be out by June.
By the way, do you know Andrew Lang? he must be a bright fellow.
Do come over here soon; we are all really anxious to see your again, old
fellow. Your friend
2 2 5 • TO WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE Swift
Oyster Bay, April 17, 1889
My dear Foulke, I am really glad Harrison has done so well in Indiana; I am
going to struggle "mighty hard" to stay in the Republican party, and it is
rather discouraging to see our President in the New York appointments do,
on the whole, rather worse than Cleavland. He has deliberately set to work to
build up a Platt machine, he has utterly ignored the progressive wing of the
party, and has distinctly lowered the standard of appointments. I did not
mind Pearson's being turned out so much as a ward politician's being put in;
still, I do'n't think he'll be able to do much damage.
I am afraid there is no chance of my getting out to Indiana now; but when
Mrs. Foulke and yourself are on your way to Europe, in June, wo'n't you
come out here for a night or two? We are but an hour from New York; and
though it is a most sleepy spot, Mrs. Roosevelt and I will do all we can to
welcome you. On Monday June 24th I shall be at Groton, Mass; but if you
157
could come out Tuesday (I shall be back that morning), or if you could
come out the preceeding Friday or Saturday and spend Sunday, we would
be very glad to see you; I wo'n't leave until Sunday evening.
Hoping to see you, I am Faithfully yours
Tkt Civil Service Cmmm
1889-1895
226 • TO CHARLES JOSEPH BONAPARTE Bonaparte M$S?
Washington, May 14, 1889
My dear Mr Bonaparte, Many thanks for your note. I hated to take the place;
but I hardly thought I ought to refuse.1 1 was a good deal surprised at the
offer, after my attack on Ingalls,2 and my strenuous efforts to keep Pearson8
in. I had been pushing Swift of Indiana for the place.
Now, we are so hampered that we must get our outside friends to help us
«by» information; do let me know if there is any crookedness, within the
scope of our powers to reduce, going on at Baltimore. I think — no man can
ever be sure — this commission means business. Remember me to Mrs Bona-
parte. Very sincerely yours
P.S. I have very, very pleasant memories of my visit to Baltimore last
February.
2 2 7 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE R.M.A. MsS.Q
Washington, May 15, 1889
Dear old Cecil, I was really glad to hear from you; I hope you do go into
diplomacy: London is unquestionably of all cities the pleasantest in which to
live — but you ought'n't to live in a city.
I am far too good an American, too proud of my country, not to feel
ashamed and indignant when we do wrong; the enclosed scrap (which please
send back) will show that I took open ground about Bright.1 Remember that
it was the Southern Democrats, who have no cause to love him, aided by a
very few northerners, who basely truckled to the Irish vote, who succeeded
in shelving the resolution.
People here did'n't like Clough; he said some pretty offensive things; to
me personally he was as sweet as sugar. Motley's correspondence is charming.
The President recently made me Gvil Service Commissioner. In great
haste Yours always
1 Roosevelt had assumed the office of Civil Service Commissioner on May 13. When
Reed and Lodge found it was impossible to persuade Harrison to appoint Roose-
velt Assistant Secretary of State they urged Roosevelt upon the President for a
place in the Civil Service Commission. Blaine and Elijah Halford, the President's
secretary, likewise lent support. It was a politically undesirable post; Roosevelt later
said he gave up all idea of a political career when he accepted the position.
•John James Ligalls, Republican senator from Kansas, 1873-1891, a resolute pro-
ponent of the spoils system.
* Postmaster Pearson of New York City, see No. 222.
1The Senate had refused to adopt a resolution expressing the regret of the Amer-
ican people at the death of John Bright.
161
228 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
Washington, May 16, 1889
My dear Mr Swift, Thanks for your note. In reference to my letter of yester-
day, what I want is some assurance that the present list of eligibles, of which
I sent you the number, is sufficient to satisfy all the legitimate needs of the
office until the regular examination in August. Also, please send me any
information about the local board. I shall do my best to have it reorganized
if there is the least need of it. I think the Commission ought to visit Indianap-
olis, especially if we have to go to Chicago.
As to the secrecy matter, I have already moved that the eligible list be
made public. It is perhaps not a violation of confidence to say I have en-
countered opposition; nevertheless I think the Commission will ultimately
decide in favor of publicity. Of course this is private.
I think Thompson1 is a trump. Yours faithfully
229 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift MSS.Q
Washington, May 16, 1889
My dear Mr. Swift, On receipt of your telegram I at once had a meeting of
the Commission summoned, and the special examination was deferred until
the 29th — a week longer — to gain information about the need of it; we
have sent a letter asking for a full statement of the reasons why it is necessary.
The reasons already given us by the Sec'y of the Examining Board (Shel-
den E. Woodward) are as follows: "Of the 28 clerks now on our eligible
register the average per cent is less than eighty, and of the nineteen eligible
carriers the average per cent is but 75. It is the opinion of the board that the
registers are not sufficiently supplied with eligibles for the probable needs
of the office until the next regular examination."
Will you please send me at once as full a statement as you can of the
reasons why you think the list of eligibles large enough for the needs of the
service until August, and why no examination should be held.
I am perfectly satisfied myself with your telegram, but the Commission
very properly feels that it ought to have a little more light on the subject —
especially as the Postmaster says he already has over 200 applications for
examination on file. Give me all the facts you can; I want to state the case as
strongly as possible to the Commission. My especial object is going to be to
have the law as it is honestly executed — this is even more important than
having the classified service extended. We are overwhelmed with work and
have but insufficint means where with to do it; and we have to rely on friends
of the reform like yourself to point out infractions of the law in their local-
1 Hugh Smith Thompson, one of Roosevelt's colleagues on the Civil Service Com-
mission, 1889-1892; Governor of South Carolina, 1882-1886; Assistant Secretary of
the Treasury, 1886-1889.
162
ities. I am genuinely obliged for your telegram, therefore, but please back it
up by as much information as possible. I was not a member of the Board
when the original permit was granted; and we need to «be» well fortified
when we revoke it. Yours sincerely
230 ' TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift MfS*
Washington, May 21, 1889
My dear Mr. Swift, The authority to hold a special examination for admission
to the Indianapolis Post Office has just this moment been definitely revoked
by the Commission; no examination will be held until the regular one in
August.
This has of course been done mainly — indeed exclusively — on my
recommendation and suggestion and therefore I feel much responsibility over
it; I was obliged to take the step mainly, though not exclusively, on what you
wrote. I shall try shortly to get to Indianapolis myself, and see about recon-
stituting the Civil Service board. It is impossible, with our present funds, and
behindhand as we are in our work owing to the ridiculously small clerical
force we are allowed, to examine the papers here, or to appoint outsiders
(who would have to be paid) on the local boards.
I think the revocation will work good; I want it definitely understood
that as far as I have power no attempt to get round the law in any way will
be permitted; and that Democrats and Republicans alike will have fair play.
Yours sincerely
231 -TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cobles Ms*.*
New York, June 2, 1 8 89
Darling Bysie, Here I am, after five lovely days at home, on my way back to
Washington, where I expect to stay three weeks. I "went it strong" into the
Custom House people, and did some pretty good work; I think it will have
an excellent effect, and in addition there is some personal satisfaction to me
in having shown that I did not intend to have the Commission remain a mere
board of head clerks.1
I am now looking forward with a good deal of interest to my book; it
ought to be out in ten days or so, but I doubt if it will be. It is wholly
impossible for me to say if I have or have not properly expressed all the
ideas that seethed vaguely in my soul as I wrote it. I know I have hold of
*In June, Roosevelt and his fellow commissioner, Hugh S. Thompson, made their
investigation of the New York Customs Service. Evidences of fraud in the conduct
of examinations were discovered. The commissioners recommended the removal of
three employees. This was the beginning of Roosevelt's tour of investigation, which
took him through the Middle West, administering "a galvanic shock" wherever he
went.
163
some good strains of thought; but I can't tell whether I have expressed them
properly or not.
I suppose you and the abandoned Miss Julia have been having a beautiful
time. We have tried with indifferent success to make Ted say "dear Aunt
Bye"; the little yellow headed scamp has been too darling for anything; I
shall have just missed blessed little Alice by three days. Your loving brother
232 • TO ANNA DAVIS LODGE AND HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, June 12, 1889
Dear Nannie and Cabot, When I reached here Tuesday morning I found my
room all ready, and a very nice breakfast waiting for me. Martha seems a very
good woman; she cooks well, keeps my room in order and doesn't bother me.
(By the way, I gave her Nannie's note.) Everything is as comfortable as pos-
sible; you have no idea of the difference it makes, coming here instead of to
a hotel; and I am fully aware of what I owe you, Edith to the contrary not-
withstanding.
Of course I feel a little homesick at being away from Edith and the chil-
dren; but I have my hands fairly full of work. On Sunday we leave for a
ten days' trip through some western postoffices; I guess there is a Cleveland
hold-over at Milwaukee who will stand some overhauling.
I called on the Blaines, and on Quay; then my (two) visiting cards gave
• out, and I must wait until Edith sends me some more. I also called on Billy
Wharton,2 and we arranged to dine together for the next two or three eve-
nings, until I go west — tonight I dine at the Thompsons.
Tell Bay8 to brace up and study all he knows how, and we'll have a great
trip to the Little Missouri. If there is any point of his equipment about which
he needs information let him write me at once. I called on Walker Elaine4
to see about Butterfield, and I think he will be all right. Let Cabot be sure
to write some time to Governor Merriam of Minnesota about Tom Reed;
I will do so too — or rather I will see him when I go out in the fall.
Goodbye; I shall keep you informed from time to time how things are
going on. Yours ever
P.S. To Cabot; don't write about Bishop Potter until you have read his
piece; it was really not what he said, but what the mugwumps interpreted it
1 Lodge, I, 77-78.
* William Fisher Wharton, Boston lawyer, Assistant Secretary of State, 1889-1893.
•George Cabot Lodge, usually called "Bay"; son of Henry Cabot Lodge, father of
Henry Cabot Lodge II. Though he served at various times as his father's secretary
and as secretary of a Senate committee, the principal interest in his short life was
poetry. Both his personality and his talent profoundly impressed a circle of friends
which included Edith Wharton, William Sturgis Bigelow, John Hay, and Theodore
Roosevelt. Henry Adams believed "he was the finest product of my time and hopes."
Modern readers of his poetry, with its overtones of Swinburne and Leopardi, may
find it difficult to share completely the critical appreciation of his contemporaries.
* Walker Elaine, son of James G. Elaine, solicitor of the Department of State under
his father.
164
to mean, together with a certain lack of wisdom in choosing the time and
place for utterance, that made the remarks unfortunate. They were unwise
in part; but they also contained some truth; and there are far more serious
offenders than Bishop Potter.6
233 -TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift MSS.Q
Indianapolis, June 18, 1889
My dear Mr Swift, First let me thank you and Mrs. Swift for a most pleasant
evening.
Now, to business. I find that Mr. Wallace1 has been here and says he is
going to send on to us affidavits and sworn evidence from the policeman
, . . to show that Moore was not really a gambler; so I at once let you
know that you may act as you deem wise; can't you take some statements on
the other side? or request Mr Wallace, from us, that you be present when
the statements are taken? Yours sincerely
234 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
Milwaukee, June 20, 1889
My dear Mr. Swift, I have received your telegram and a copy of the "News"
for the 1 9th, wherein Assistant Postmaster Thompson1 is reported as saying
that the Commission has reversed its decision as regards Moore. The state-
ment is simply untrue. After the Commission had adjourned, in the evening,
Mr. Wallace came round to the Hotel, saw two of the commissioners (the
third being absent), and obtained their permission to produce what he
claimed was new evidence in the case. The commissioners expect to receive
this new evidence immediately. Mean while their opinion remains unchanged
— that Moore was illegally reinstated, and is now illegally in office. They
have merely delayed making their judgement final, so as to give Mr. Wallace
the opportunity he so earnestly requested to put in evidence that might
change the decision. Any additional evidence on the other side will of course
also be received. Yours truly
"Henry Codman Potter, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of New York. At the Wash-
ington Centennial, April 30, 1889, he made a strong plea for honesty in public
admin istration.
1 William Wallace, postmaster at Indianapolis, friend of President Harrison. He had
reinstated in the Post Office a -man accused of gambling. The commissioners, as the
subsequent letters on this subject reveal, removed the man after investigation, on
the grounds that he had been illegally reinstated.
1 E. P. Thompson, assistant postmaster at Indianapolis. He had supported his supe-
rior, Wallace, in the reinstatement of Moore.
2 3 5 ' TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT SlWff t
Milwaukee, June 20, 1889
My dear Swift, I have just received your telegram. Will you please to have
the enclosed note printed immediately in the "News"?
As you know, I was at your house when the other commissionners decided
to receive further testimony; I will say frankly that had I been present I
would strenuously have opposed it; but no harm is done, in reality, for I
have no idea that the Commission will alter its decision — and I can't help
thinking that the Indianapolis people have no right to think that the good
accomplished by the visit has been undone until they learn the facts as they
are, not from a statement of Ass't Postmaster Thompson. Yours sincerely
P.S. Please send at once to Washington full statements, if possible under
oath, of the policemen or any others who can speak of the gambling.
236 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Washington, June 24, 1889
Dear Cabot, Well, here I am back again, to routine work, and heat, and, as
a relief, pleasant dinners with the equally lonely Wharton.
We had only a week's trip but we stirred things up well; the President
has made a great mistake in appointing a well-meaning, weak old fellow in
Indianapolis, but I think we have administered a galvanic shock that will re-
inforce his virtue for the future.2 Cleveland's postmaster at Milwaukee is
about as thorough paced a scoundrel as I ever saw — an oily-Gammon,
church-going specimen.8 We gave him a neat hoist. The Chicago postmaster
is a trump; a really good fellow (Republican). At Grand Rapids, the re-
doubtable Congressman Belknap turned up as meek as a lamb and we frater-
nized most amicably. The West knows much less about civil service reform
than the East, and there will be a row next winter; nevertheless some of their
papers are very strong on the subject. I enclose an editorial from the Chicago
Tribune.
I haven't seen my book at all; but I know yours is out for I saw a three
column review, of the most appreciative order, in the N. Y. Tribune. It was
written very intelligently and really seemed to appreciate pretty well the
magnitude of the work you had accomplished. All that it needed to make it
1 Lodge, I, 79.
•William Wallace had illegally removed three employees. The shock, the investi-
gation of the reinstatement case, was successful; two years kter Wallace's admin-
istration was referred to as a "model."
•Postmaster Paul of Milwaukee, who had systematically flouted most of the Pen-
dleton Act; he made a practice of having examination papers re-marked so that he
could obtain men he wanted. Roosevelt's report on this situation precipitated a con-
flict with Postmaster General Wanamaker and Frank Hatton, editor of the Wash-
ington Post. Tension over the issue became so great that the Committee on Reform
in the Civil Service was finally instructed to conduct a congressional investigation.
1 66
perfectly truthful was to have summed up by stating that it was the life of
the greatest of all Americans. It is no small triumph to have written such a
book as that.
Best love to Nannie. Yours
237 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, June 29, 1889
Dear Cabot, Tell Nannie I have called on all the people whose names she
gave me, and virtue has had its reward. The Hitts2 had me to dinner (where
I met Elaine and Phelps),8 Linden Kent4 drives me out to the country club
this evening and last evening I dined with the Herberts,5 who were very
pleasant; I am sworn friends with Billy Wharton and usually dine with him
at Welckers. There we usually growl over our respective griefs. Elaine, and
Walker B. do not treat him with the consideration that is his due; Walker
usurps all the most pleasant and honorable part of his duties. As for me, I am
having a hard row to hoe. I have made this Commission a living force, and in
consequence the outcry among the spoilsmen has become furious; it has evi-
dently frightened both the President and Halford 6 a little. They have shown
symptoms of telling me that the law should be rigidly enforced where people
will stand it, and gingerly handled elsewhere. But I answered militandy; that
as long as I was responsible the law should be enforced up to the handle
every 'where; fearlessly and honestly. I am a great believer in practical poli-
tics; but when my duty is to enforce a law, that law is surely going to be
enforced, without fear or favor. I am perfectly willing to be turned out —
or legislated out — but while in I mean business. As a matter of fact I believe,
I have strengthened the administration by showing, in striking contrast to the
facts under Cleveland, that there was no humbug in the law now. All the
Chicago and Milwaukee papers are backing me up heartily. The Indiana men
are very angry — even Browne7 has gone back on his previous record. It is
disheartening to see such folly; but it's only effect on me personally is to
make me more doggedly resolute than ever to insist on exact and full justice.
1 Lodge, I, 79-80.
•Robert Roberts Hitt, Republican member of Congress from Illinois, 1882-1906,
had previously been secretary of the United States Legation at Paris, 1874-1881, and
Assistant Secretary of State in 1 88 1. In 1889 he became chairman of die House Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs.
8 William Walter Phelps, New York lawyer; member of Congress from New Jersey,
1873-1875, 1883-1889; minister to Austria-Hungary, 1881; commissioner to Berlin
Conference on Samoa, 1899; minister to Germany, 1889-1893. He was a close friend
and supporter of Elaine.
4ProbaDly Adolph Lindenkohl, senior cartographic draftsman with the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey.
6 Michael Henry Herbert was then secretary at the British Legation; in 1902-1903
he was British Ambassador to the United States.
•Elijah Walker Halford, the President's secretary.
7 Thomas McLelland Browne, Republican congressman from Indiana, 1877-1891.
167
I still have not seen your Washington; it must be awaiting me at Saga-
more Hill. Yours
238 • HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, July i, 1889
Dear Cabot, I was delighted to receive your letter, and need hardly say how
much pleased I was with your opinion of my book. You must certainly see
the Tribune review; it is written with real appreciation; it is headed "A Bril-
liant Work." I have now read your book carefully through, and can only
reiterate what I have already said as to its worth. It is head and shoulders
above what you have already done; and it is the life of Washington. You have
now reached what I am still struggling for; a uniformly excellent style. The
contrast between your description of Virginian society in this book and in
your "History of the Colonies," is so great as to be almost amusing. More-
over, though you have no absolutely new material, your chapter on "Wash-
ington as a party man" (I am thankful you took that exact title; it acts as a
mordant to set die picture) is in reality as absolutely new as if based on mss.
never before unearthed. It is a great work.
I was glad to hear from you in approval of my western trip, when I made
"a slam among the post offices." I have been seriously annoyed at the mug-
wump praises, for fear they would discredit me with well-meaning but nar-
row Republicans, and for the last week my party friends in Washington have
evidently felt a little shakey.2 This has no effect on me whatever; I took the
first opportunity to make a slash at the Port Huron man especially to show
that I was resolutely bent on following out my course to the very end. Even
Halford, however, says he is alarmed at the feeling against the law in the
West; but as I told him, it had far better be repealed than allowed to remain
as under Cleveland a non-enforced humbug. If you get the chance do dwell
on the fact that it is to Harrison's credit, all that we are doing in enforcing
the kw. I am part of the Administration; if I do good work it redounds to
1 Lodge, I, 80-81.
*The pleasing irony of Mugwump support caused Roosevelt concern as well as
annoyance. In 1884 he had disassociated himself from the Independents who could
not bring themselves to vote for Elaine. These Independents, some of whom — like
Burt, Curtis, Schurz, Wheeler, Wayne MacVeagh, and Eaton — had assisted in
drafting the original Pendleton Act, were the most effective advocates of civil
service reform. Through the National Civil Service Reform League they exerted
a constant and considerable influence upon both Cleveland and Harrison. As a com-
missioner, Roosevelt not only had the support of the Mugwumps, but, in the eyes of
regular Republicans, he often acted like one. In his own mind the dangers, from
such a position, to his political future were clear enough, and his sensitivity on
the point was intensified by personal irritation with many of the characteristics of
the 'reform" temperament. In his Autobiography he speaks of "a certain mental
and moral thinness" among many leaders in the civil service reform movement.
168
the credit of the Administration. This needs to be insisted on; both for the
sake of the mugwumps and for the sake of Harrison himself.
How fortunate it is that I did not get the Assistant Secy'ship of State!
I could have done nothing there; whereas now I have been a real force, and
think I have helped the cause of good government and of the party.
Best love to Nannie.
239 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Oyster Bay, July 6, 1889
You blessed but jaundiced sage, Your letters were so very gloomy that they
made me quite regain my spirits. Edith thoroughly agrees with you about
interviews; so I cry peccavi and will assume a statesmanlike reserve of man-
ner whenever reporters come near me. Seriously, I was only led into saying
as much by the not unnatural desire to hit back at the western politicians who
were hitting at me.
I did not mean to worry you about Wharton. I told him that he must keep
his position for three years; that as long as possible he must avoid a collision,
and, if necessary to have it, must temper firmness with great diplomacy and
smiling good manners.
I had an extremely good letter from Col. Clapp,2 which I shall show to
Half ord and the President. I have no idea that I shall be asked to resign, and
it would need really treacherous treatment to make me do so of my own
accord. As far as I can see at present all that the Commission will do before
October will be to finish the fight with the Milwaukee Postmaster and try
to get one in Grand Rapids indicted (both are Democrats) ; and I may have
a single "interview" on the practical character of our examinations just be-
fore leaving, in July or August, for the West. (Let me know as soon as pos-
sible about Bay.) So you see the Commission will relapse nearly into the
much desired condition of innocuous desuetude.
As for the reformers of the professional sort attacking you, why their
praise and blame are equally valueless. What is the Washington Star? I never
even heard of it. If it is not better than the Washington Post it is vile indeed.
I am case-hardened; the praise I am now receiving from the mugwumps ex-
cites in me mere good-natured amusement. Your book has permanent value;
your work in Congress for the country has permanent value; your children's
children will feel honored to bear your name; — you can snap your fingers
at the snarling host of little yelpers, whose lies are predestined to rot in for-
gotten obscurity.
Best love to Nannie. Yours
1 Lodge, I, 82.
* William Warland Clapp.
169
240 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift MsS.°
Oyster Bay, July 6, 1889
My dear Mr. Strife, Your letter was most welcome; I confess I have been a
little ashamed, as a Republican, of the way the Republican press of Indiana
took our doing what was simply our honest duty. By the way did you see
we had to give a rap to the Port Huron Collector? In the end I think we
will make these gentry realize that they must play a fair game.
I am afraid the Indiana congressmen will be a unit against us next winter,
judging from the way they talk now.
I am doing what I can to have Mr. Fishback appointed;1 as you know I
am a little more radical, though not a whit more earnest, than my colleagues,
and I can not say what success I will have.
By the way, do sometime make mention of the fact that the Boston Jour-
nal, the leading Republican paper of New England, is backing us up in the
heartiest manner.
With warm regards to Mrs. Swift, I am Very sincerely yours
241 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed"1
Washington, July u, 1889
Dear Cabot, I read your speech with great care; I did not write you about
it before because I wished to write a little at length. I think it so good as to
be worth keeping in permanent form. Keep an accurate copy; it must go in,
if it ever becomes necessary to publish a volume of "letters and speeches" of
a distinguished, etc., etc. You took Bishop Potter's sermon exactly right, lay-
ing stress on just the proper points — the time chosen to deliver it, the ap-
plication made by the mugwumps, and the failure to see that one has as much
right to use Benedict Arnold as Washington as a sample public man of a
century back; and yet you did not rebel at proper criticism. Moreover your
whole speech was in tone and style that of a trained scholar who was also a
trained politician — using the word in its proper meaning. I wonder whether
it did not occur to our mugwump friends that it was an honor to the com-
munity to have in Congress a man capable of making such a speech.
Your remarks about indiscriminate, abusive criticism of course go to my
heart; I am going to try to drag in something of the sort into my volume on
N. Y. for Freeman's series if I ever write it. I regard this dishonest jealousy of
decent men on the part of people who claim to be good, and this wholesale
abuse, as two of the most potent forces for evil now existent in our nation.
The foul and coarse abuse of an avowed partisan, willing to hurt the nation
for the sake of personal or party gain, is bad enough; but it receives the final
1 William P. Fishback was a candidate for the Indianapolis Civil Service Board. Sub-
sequently he was appointed.
1 Lodge, I, 83-85-
170
touch when steeped in the mendacious hypocrisy of the mugwump, the mis-
called Independent. If the Civil Service Reform papers do not make much
of your address, it can only be because they care less for reforming civil serv-
ice than for gratifying their malignant personal jealousies and animosities,
at any cost to good government. I do not know when I have read a clearer,
stronger, terser argument on behalf of the reform than that in your speech.
It was in all ways admirable.
I am glad your Washington sold so well; but I have never had a doubt
as to the reception. In fact, in both literature and politics, you have attained
a really wonderful position; in literature you have won it both with educated
critics and with the general reading public, and in politics you have the
confidence of the great body of decent American citizens who are neither
silly nor vicious, who form part of neither the mugwumps nor the mob.
As for me, I have come back to my work. I saw Wharton for a moment;
and the Commission had a very satisfactory interview with the President.
The old boy is with us, — which was rather a relief to learn definitely. Wana-
maker2 has been as outrageously disagreeable as he could possibly be; and he
hinted at so much that when the President telegraphed for us yesterday we
thought it looked like a row. But as a matter of fact he has, if not supported
us against Wanamaker, at least not supported Wanamaker against us; and
when we are guaranteed a fair field I am quite able to handle [him] by my-
self. We have done our best to get on smoothly with him; but he is an ill-
conditioned creature. He seems to be the only one of the Cabinet who wants
to pitch into us; Porter8 (who will keep his census out of our grip) is the best
of friends with me; and I get along well with the absurd Tanner.4 It has been
•John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia merchant, a liberal contributor to the Har-
rison campaign fund, Postmaster General, 1889-1893. Of all the Cabinet he was the
least impressed by the claims of the civil service; in fact, as his official biographer
stated, he had no profound objection to the theory that to the victor belong the
spoils." Holding such views and such a position, he was the natural opponent of
Roosevelt. They clashed constantly, notably over affairs in the post offices of Bal-
timore and Milwaukee. The primary source of contention between Roosevelt and
Wanamaker was the alleged irregularities committed by government officials in
Baltimore. Charles J. Bonaparte and Roosevelt were active from 1889 to 1891
in exposing these irregularities to public view. Wanamaker, as Postmaster Gen-
eral, refused to take any punitive action. After a long and vituperative alterca-
tion, the subject was finally investigated by a committee of Congress in 1892. Roo-
sevelt did little to ease the tension between the two by sending word to Wanamaker
on one occasion that he disliked him (Wanamaker) because he had a "sloppy
mind" and was "a liar."
•Robert Percival Porter, journalist, author, Director of the Eleventh Census, 1889-
1893.
4 James Tanner, known as "Corporal Tanner." His appointment by Harrison as Com-
missioner of Pensions was one of several which caused the supporters of civil serv-
ice reform acute dismay. He had lost two legs at Bull Run, and, since the Civil
War, had been a minor political figure in New York. Delighted upon his appoint-
ment to find that "at these fingertips there rests some power," he used his position
to raise the disability rate of many pensioners and to order the payment in lump
sums of thousands of dollars which had accumulated before original application.
Shortly after his appointment, the Secretary of the Interior stepped in to stop the
171
a great and genuine satisfaction to feel that the President is with us. The
Indianapolis business gave him an awful wrench, but he has swallowed the
medicine, and in his talk with us today did not express the least dissatisfaction
with any of our deeds or utterances.
By the way, about interviewing, I really say very little; but I can't help
answering a question now and then, and it promptly comes out as an inter-
view. I was rather glad that Puck pitched into me; the chorus of mugwump
praise was growing too loud. The attack was purely by innuendo and in-
direction, and was therefore in true mugwump style.
How about Bay? I hope he will come out with me whether he passes or
not; it will do him good and it would be a great disappointment to him not
to go.
During the hot weather we shall have comparatively little to do; it is
pretty dreary to sizzle here, day after day, doing routine work that the good
Lyman5 is quite competent to attend to by himself; and I shall take my six
weeks in the West with a light heart and a clear conscience. I shall start
about August 6th.
Give my best love to Nannie, and tell her it is everything for me to have
121 1 as a home. Yours ever
I guess from what the Prex says I will stay in unless knocked on the head
by Congress — but I do wish he would give us a little more active support;8
in this Milwaukee case Wanamaker from pure spite will not interfere to pre-
vent the (Democratic) Postmaster from turning out the subordinate who
gave us the information.
24 1 A • TO FRANCIS PARKMAN Parkman
Washington, July 13, 1889
My dear Mr Parkman I am much pleased that you like the book.
I have always had a special admiration for you as the only one — and I
may very sincerely say, the greatest — of our two or three first ckss his-
torians who devoted himself to American history; and made a classic work —
flow of money from the Treasury. In September 1889 the Corporal resigned. In
1904 Roosevelt appointed him register of wills in the District of Columbia.
8 Charles Lyman, president of the Civil Service Commission, 1889-1893. He later
(1901) became chief of the Division of Appointments in the Treasury Department.
'President Harrison shordy did give the commission the "little more active support"
Roosevelt desired. Postmaster Paul resigned, but before he did so he dismissed
Hamilton Shidv, the subordinate in the Milwaukee post office who originally gave
Roosevelt the information about Paul. In return for this information, the commis-
sioners used their influence to have Shidy appointed to a position in the Pension
Bureau at Washington. Frank Hatton, editor of the Washington Post, and, as a
former Postmaster General, an old enemy of civil service reform, severely criticized
both the commissioners' report and their subsequent action in protecting Shidy.
Following this publicity, later in the year 1889, a House investigation into the Mil-
waukee situation was ordered.
172
not merely an excellent book of references like Bancroft or Hildreth. I have
always intended to devote myself to essentially American work; and litera-
ture must be my mistress perforce, for though I really enjoy politics I ap-
preciate perfectly the exceedingly short nature of my tenure. I much prefer
to really accomplish something good in public life, no matter at what cost of
enmity from even my political friends than to enjoy a longer term of service,
fettered by endless fear, always trying to compromise, and doing nothing in
the end.
I thought it really necessary to hit Gilmore a rap; his work is very dis-
honest. I am not quite sure how the Kentuckians and Tenneseeans will take
my book; they have the dreadful habit of always writing of themselves in the
superlative tense.
Mr. Draper unfortunately thinks one bit of old ms. just exactly as good
as any other Very sincerely yours
242 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE 'Printed'1
Washington, July 17, 1889
Dear Cabot, Read the enclosed letter to Bay (I can't spell it Ba — it sounds
too lamb-like, and he is not a lamb) and give it to him or not as you see fit.
Clapp is a trump, through and through; how I wish we had his like in
New York journalism!
Life's admiration of Scotch-Irish "liberalism" was delicious; I chuckled
over it. Tom Reed's letter was excellent and very characteristic. But I don't
know about sending him my book. A lot of small authors have pestered me
with booklets recently — mostly poems; and I don't want any one to despise
me as I despise them for sending me their own productions. What do you
think about it? You certainly have reason to be proud of such letters from
men like Bancroft, Winthrop and Howells.2
Tomorrow we get out our report in the Milwaukee case; in it I hit Paul
between the eyes. He's a regular oily Gammon. When we meet I'll tell you
how Wanamaker has done. He opposes us so much that we have to go cau-
tiously. For instance, they (Bonaparte, etc.) have wished us to investigate
the Baltimore Post Office;8 it is doubtless bad; but Wanamaker antagonizes
what we do so freely that I shall try to have them get his department to in-
vestigate it instead; then he'll be hot for it. I mean to avoid a quarrel with
him; both for the sake of the reform and of the party; but every now and
then he intrudes too much, and I have to hit him a clip.
1 Lodge, I, 85-86.
1 George Bancroft, the historian; Robert Charles Winthrop, president of the Mas-
sachusetts Historical Society, 1864-1894; and William Dean Howells, then editor of
Harper's Monthly.
•For a discussion of conditions in the Baltimore post office, see Eric F. Goldman,
Charles J. Bonaparte, Patrician Reformer (Baltimore, 1943), pp. 24-26.
173
Tomorrow evening I have Wharton, Batcheller* and Half ord to dinner.
Yours always
243 • TO LUCIUS BURREE SWIFT Swft
Washington, July 23, 1889
My dear Swift: After some difficulty we have finally reached this point anent
Fishback — we will appoint him if he is eligible, and we will ask the Att'y.
Gen'l to pass on his eligibility. So will you please send me at once his exact
official position? We could not recollect what his proper title was. Also his
initials.
I am sorry to bother you.
By the way, we have had a great time over Paul, the Milwaukee Post-
master. It is the most flagrant case I ever saw. A particularly comical feature
is that the local Republican Congressman, Van Schaick, has turned up as
Paul's most ardent defender on the ground (given in an article in the Mil-
waukee "Sentinel" that we have infringed on his "prerogative" by attacking
his local postmaster without his knowledge and consent! I am afraid (but
this is private) that Mr. Wannamaker takes the same view; and great pres-
sure has been brought to bear on the President to keep Paul in. It will be a
real calamity if he is not removed.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Swift Very sincerely yours
244 • TO DOUGLAS AND CORINNE ROBINSON RobinSOn
Washington, July 28, 1889
Dear Douglass and Pussie, I think I am very good to write you, for I have
heard nothing from either of you, and I did not even know how the Orange-
men had done at polo until I met Nell (poor, dear old Nell; I suppose it is
useless to wish that he would put himself completely under a competent
physician; I did my best to get him to). Douglass has worked his team up
wonderfully; but he must always choose a first-rate man when he plays
doubles. As for my polo, it is one of the things that have been; witness the
enclosed check, which is for Cranford; and I am trying to sell Diamond.
How I hate to give it up! Struggle as I will, my life seems to grow more and
more sedentary, and I am rapidly sinking into a fat and lazy middle age.
When I am home I always want to spend the time with Edith and the chil-
dren; and of course what is exercise for them is not exercise for me. But our
rowboat serves both purposes; Edith and I have spent lovely days in her this
summer. Alicey and Ted are sweeter than ever. Ask Teddy Douglass if he
remembers how I took all the children down to the pond, and made them
walk out on a half sunken log, where they perched like so-many sand-snipe.
Small Ted never forgets me at all, even when I am away for three weeks, and
* George Sherman Batcheller, First Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, 1889-1891.
174
dances a clumsy little tarantalla of baby-joy when I come back, and take
him down to feed the ponies and see the chickies.
Putnam says my book is selling well and he thinks there will soon have
to be another edition. A week from tomorrow I leave for the west. I take
a mild Ferghie with me, and leave him on the ranch while I go on for a hack
at the bears in the Rockies. I am so out of training that I look forward with
acute physical terror to going up the first mountain.
I have mortally hated being so much away from home this summer; but
I am very glad I took this place, and I have really enjoyed my work. I feel
it incumbent on me to try to amount to something, either in politics or
literature, because I have deliberately given up the hope of going into a
money-making business. Of course however my political life is but an inter-
lude — it is quite impossible to continue long to do much, between two sets
of such kittle-cattle as the spoilsmen and the mugwumps. Yours
245 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, July 28, 1889
Dear Cabot, I laid the case before the Commission; the charges against Sal-
tonstall2 fell through. About the matter of removals, we are rather in a
quandary; Wanamaker has laid before us the case of Brown of Baltimore.
He has discharged 356 men out of 367; of course they have been replaced
by democrats. Now, such a state of things is an outrage; a man acting in
that way can pretty well nullify the whole Civil Service Law, for none but
favorites will come forward to take the examinations in such an office.
I do wish the President would give me a little active, even if only verbal
encouragement; it is a dead weight to stagger under, without a particle of
sympathy from any one of our leaders here, except old Proctor.8 I am a
little weary over the case of the Milwaukee Postmaster; he has a strong pull,
and the President has slumbered on his case over a week; if he is not dis-
missed, as we recommend, it will be a bkck eye for the Commission, and
practically an announcement that hereafter no man need fear dismissal for
violating the law; for if Paul has not violated it, then it can by no possibility
be violated.
The Putnams write me that the first edition of my book is nearly sold;
so I suppose it is doing fairly well.
Look in the Sunday Tribune; I think it will contain a short skit by me
on that demented mugwump Fiske.4 I saw a Boston Herald article; and then
1 Lodge, I, 86-87.
•Leverett Saltonstall, Massachusetts Democrat; appointed collector of die port of
Boston by Cleveland, over the opposition of the Massachusetts Democratic machine.
•Redfield Proctor, President Harrison's Secretary of War; Republican senator from
Vermont, 1891-1908.
4 John Fiske, historian and philosopher, author of The American Revolution (Boston,
1891); The Discovery of America (Boston, 1892).
175
met their correspondent and, unless I am in error, somewhat electrified him.
The Indiana Civil Service Chronicle quotes your 4th of July speech with
much approbation.
The other day I wasted a dollar and a half on Swinburne's new volume
of poems — but threw it away when I at last came to a sonnet addressed to
"Our Lady of Laughter" Nell Gwynn, and containing the rather startling
assurance that the virtuous Nell was one whom "neither court nor stage
could taint." I cannot countenance idiocy beyond a certain point. Yours
246 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift MSS.Q
Washington, July 30, 1889
My dear Mr. Swift, I am happy to be able to tell you that the Atty-Gen'l,
on the case being presented to him, decided our way; and M. Fishback will
be added to the local board, and the notification sent this afternoon.
We have been delaying the publication of one rule solely because of the
Indianapolis P. O. Great inconvenience sometimes results from inability to
employ a substitute for a short period, to take a place temporarily vacated
by bona fide sickness; and we have had for six weeks a rule ready, allowing,
with the approval of the commission, such appointments to be made for not
exceeding 30 days; but we have kept the rule back six weeks, so that it should
not allow postmasters to tide over die time until the first regular examinations.
If Paul is not removed it will be a gross and flagrant miscarriage of jus-
tice; he is in reality a worse man than Aquila Jones.1 I enclose our report.
Paul has really made no attempt to answer it; he has confined himself to
abusing me; and to sheer downright lying, of an almost comically brazen
kind.
If he is not removed I do'nt see how I can recommend the removal of
the Baltimore man; for the latter has not violated the letter of the law, though
he has actually made a clean sweep, 9696 of the old employees being turned
out. I was anxious to make an investigation into the Baltimore matter because
it is the last flagrant case we have now before us; and next week I go to my
ranch for my holiday — I must see how the cattle are getting on. Did you
see my interview in last Sunday's New York Herald? I want you to look at
it. Yours sincerely
P.S. I made the Butler proposal; but for the present, for reasons I will
explain later, it was decided to let Fishback stand alone for the present
1 Aquila Jones, postmaster in Indianapolis, removed because of improper use of
the appointment power. His assistant characterized the list of eligibles which Post-
master Jones had prepared as "a regular set of yaps." He advised that none of
them be appointed.
176
247 ' T0 JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS
Washington, July 31, 1889
Dear Matthews, — O, you Mugwumps! The way you go and arrogate all
virtue to yourselves is enough to exasperate an humble party man like my-
self. Here am I, feebly trying to do my duty, threatened with overwhelming
disaster by my own party men, who, as the last bitterest term of reproach,
accuse me of being a mugwump; and now you want to join in and help
foster the delusion. By the way, if you see our good friend Bunner,1 give
him the love of the "Bob-tailed" statesman. Seriously, I have pretty hard
work, and work of rather an irritating kind; but I am delighted to be en-
gaged in it. For the last few years politics with me has been largely a balanc-
ing of evils, and I am delighted to go in on a side where I have no doubt
whatever, and feel absolutely certain that my efforts are wholly for the
good; and you can guarantee I intend to hew to the line, and let the chips
fly where they will. Just yesterday, in a brief interval of battling with the
spoilsmen, I strolled into a club-room here — glad to get anywhere out of
the sizzling heat of the Washington streets — and picked up a copy of
Scribner's. As soon as I saw your article, I knew that you had written the
piece about which you spoke to me two years ago.2 On reading it, I was
electrified when I struck the name of the fort. It may be prejudice on my
part, but I really think it is one of the best of your stories, and I am very
glad to have my name connected with it in no matter how small a way. I
congratulate you on it very sincerely. Much obliged for the information
about Emmett's book. It has been wholly impossible for me to work at the
volume on New York this summer as I had intended, but in the fall I shall
take it up, and then I will get you to put me in the way of getting Emmett's
volume of illustrations and documents.
I am going to spend six weeks after the 5th of August out West among
the bears and cowboys, as I think I have fairly earned a holiday. Faithfully
yours
248 -TO THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Swift MsS.
Washington, August i, 1889
Gentlemen: In accordance with your instructions, on July 27th, 1889, I
made a short examination into the recent management of the Baltimore post
office, in so far as it is affected by the civil service law.
The examination was undertaken partly in consequence of a report on
1 Henry Cuyler Bunner, poet, parodist and novelist; the rare and refreshing talent
that enriched the pages of Puck in these years.
•James Brander Matthews, "Memories," Scribnefs Magazine, 6: 168-175 (August
1889).
177
the office made last January by Examiner Holtz, of the Commission, (which
report is herewith submitted with accompanying letters; see exhibit A, B, C,
D) and partly in consequence of two letters from the Honorable the Post-
master General, calling ^attention* to certain alleged irregularities in the said
office, and requesting that the same be investigated, and that he be advised
of the Commission's recommendation in the premises (See exhibits E & F).
On July zyth I went to Baltimore and took the testimony of the Postmaster,
the Assistant Postmaster, and certain of the employes and ex-employes of the
post office (See exhibit G, stenographic report; there was quite an amount of
additional testimony which the stenographer did not take down). The report
of Mr. Holtz shows various irregularities in the methods of appointment;
notably in the transfer of eligibles from one list to another, in the order of
appointment of substitutes, and in the non-certification of certain eligibles
the required number of times. All these variations tended to give the post-
master an improper latitude in the appointment and rejection of eligibles;
but it appears that they were due to an honest misconception of the rules on
the part of both the postmaster and the local examining board, the practice
has been perfectly regular ever since Mr. Holtz made his report, and no
further action seems necessary in the matter.
It is otherwise with the charges made in the papers accompanying the
letters of the Postmaster General; these charges implying the wholesale dis-
missal of post office employes for political reasons, so that there has been
what is known in the spoils vernacular as a "clean sweep" of the office.
During the last four years there have been two heads of the Baltimore
post office; Mr. Veazey, who held office about a year, and was then allowed
to resign, and his successor the present incumbent, Mr. Frank Brown. Mr.
Veazey was one of those products of the patronage system whose antics
would be comic were it not for their deeply tragic effect upon the public
service and upon honest political life; and great allowance should be made
for Mr. Brown because of the condition in which the office was handed over
to him by his predecessor; for all the evidence tends to show that Mr.
Veazey's administration can only be characterized as scandalous. It seems
likely that he habitually and grossly violated the law both as to appointments
and removals; he certainly during his year of office turned out four-fifths of
the old employes, and filled their places with men many of them of such evil
character as to greatly demoralize the service.
According to the report of Chief Inspector E. G. Rathbone, of which
Mr. Brown admits the substantial accuracy, in a total of 367 carriers and
clerks composing the classified service of the Baltimore post office, there are
now left but eleven (Mr. Brown says 13) who were in the public employ
four years ago. About a hundred additional places have been created how-
ever during this period, on account of the growth of business. Therefore of
the original force of the office about 96 per cent has been changed during the
last four years. This, so far as the records show, is a greater proportion than
has ever been changed in the public service taken as a whole during a similar
period even in the worst days of the pure patronage system, and almost as
near the ideal "clean sweep" as can ever be practically realized, because in
every large office or service there are some men who must of necessity be
retained in any event on account of their expert knowledge. Most of this
change however was due to Mr. Brown's predecessor, Mr. Veazey. Mr.
Brown states that when he took office he found one hundred and three of
the old employes still remaining; of this number, therefore, which had sur-
vived the ordeal of Mr. Veazey's rule, Mr. Brown himself removed eighty
eight per cent. So demoralized was the office that he was likewise forced to
dismiss over half of Mr. Veazey's appointees. Even more extraordinary is the
fact that he was obliged to dismiss more than one-fifth of his own. In fact, if
there is any merit in the system of rotation in office, the Baltimore post office
should conspicuously exemplify it, for during the last four years the number
of changes has been largely in excess of the total number of employes.
One result of all this is made very apparent by the certification book.
According to this book among those appointed during the three years prior
to last November the declinations averaged only about one every year; but
of those appointed since that time about half have declined. The appointees
do not think it worth while to take office since the change of administration,
evidently believing that the measure which has been meted out to their
predecessors will now be meted to them in turn.
Another result is shown by the seemingly almost universal payment of
campaign assessments at election time. Almost all the clerks who were ques-
tioned admitted that they had "voluntarily" paid last fall for campaign pur-
poses sums varying from 2 to 4 per cent of their salaries. If this average held
good among all the employes, something like seven thousand dollars must
have been paid in all, which would quite justify the remark made to Post-
master Brown, by some of the local committeemen of his party, that "his
men had aU contributed well" (See Ex. G, p. 32, Mr. Brown's testimony.).
The money was generally paid in a building about twenty steps distant from
the post office. Mr. Brown brought no pressure to bear on his clerks to make
them contribute; but as he very truthfully remarked he supposed they paid
with the hope of getting some benefit, "as the average man is not particu-
larly anxious to get rid of his money." One of the eleven Republican hold-
overs put it more tersely. He testified that he contributed to the Republican
campaign fund in 1884, and to the Democratic campaign fund in 1888, be-
cause "it was expected of every man holding a political job"; and he had
impartially gratified the expectation of each side in turn. This particular wit-
ness had paid his contribution to a fellow clerk in the building itself; he testi-
fied that he thought the clerk to whom he had paid was one Hedge Evans,
but being apparently of weak memory was unwilling to swear to the fact.
Mr. Brown states that all the removals he had made were "for cause, and
in all cases to promote the efficiency of the service"; and denies that he was
179
influenced by political considerations. He has made public the statement that
he has not recorded the causes for removals except in extreme cases "not
wishing to place on record charges that might injure character or prevent the
parties from securing employment," and then he specifies as causes, dishon-
esty, general stupidity, want of cleanliness, and the like. Twenty-five of his
discharged employes wrote him recently, stating that when they were re-
moved they had no knowledge of any charges being preferred against them,
but supposed it was simply for political reasons and acquiesced without com-
plaint; but that Mr. Brown's having publicly stated that all removals were
made for cause, and having specified in general terms such very grave faults,
they feel it due to their good fame to demand the particular charges on
which they were severally dismissed. Mr. Brown says it would now be
impossible for him to furnish such particulars. Whatever may be said in
favor of not making charges against a dismissed man so as to spare him the
additional hardship of injuring his character and preventing his getting
employment elsewhere, the reasons fail when the man himself waives any
such claim to consideration, and demands to know why he has been dis-
missed; and it seems a cruel wrong to assert that a man has been dismissed for
ample cause, and yet to decline to let him know what the cause is. Person-
ally, I am of the opinion — that in the case of dismissals from the classified
service a written statement of the reasons should invariably be filed, to be
published if the dismissed employe demand it
Several of the former employes of the Baltimore post office, as Mr. Lewis
and Mr. Solomon, testify that when they were dismissed they were frankly
told that it was for political reasons. As before mentioned Mr. Brown says
that this was not the case; but he also adds rather significantly that he has
removed quite a number of men because he did not think they were in full
sympathy with his administration; that he would be especially apt to feel this
if the men differed from him factionally or politically, and that it was his
"natural inference," he being a Democrat, that Republicans "did not have
the welfare of his administration at heart." I emphatically dissent from this
proposition. It is one upon which no public officer should act.
The Commission has held that the civil service act renders it unlawful for
a postmaster or other appointing officer to dismiss men from the classified
service because of their political opinion or affiliations; because, for instance,
they belong to the political party to which the appointing officer is opposed.
It is as improper to remove as to appoint a man for political reasons; but
whereas it is comparatively easy to prevent one form of wrong doing it is
extremely difficult to prevent the other. A large number of cases of removals
from the public service have been recently brought to the attention of the
Commissioners, the persons thus removed charging that the controlling mo-
tives for the removal were political; but it is impossible to prove that their
conjectures are correct.
When the number of political removals is not great no particular harm
180
ensues; in fact if the law is fairly well obeyed there ceases to be any point in
making political removals because it is impossible to make political appoint-
ments. But a gross abuse of the power of dismissal, such as is implied in the
removal of 96 (or 88) per cent of the whole force, as in the Baltimore post
office, becomes in the end a practical abuse of the power of appointment for
it of course soon puts a complete stop to applications for appointment on the
part of men of the same political faith with those removed. It is thus in the
power of an appointing officer, by the improper exercise of the right of
removal, to entirely defeat the purpose of the law.
When, as under the present practice, no cause for removal is, as a rule,
stated, the point at which it becomes improper must of necessity be a matter
of presumption rather than of proof. The removal of 20 or 30 per cent of
subordinates would not perhaps raise the presumption of improper conduct;
whereas the removal of 80 or 90 per cent certainly would, and [in] such a case
the burden of proof ought to rest with the appointing officer, who should
be required to show specifically and in detail that his removals were justifi-
able. No mere statement that they were "for the good of the service" can
suffice. Undoubtedly there are occasional cases in which it is for the benefit
of the service to dismiss men against whom nothing definite can be urged;
and there may well be other instances where a whole group of men must be
dismissed because of some continued series of thefts or the like which has
been fixed upon that group but not upon any particular individual; but in
neither of these classes of cases should the power be exercised too freely.
Much must be left to the discretion of the appointing officer, but he should
not abuse this discretion.
It is of course necessary, for the purposes of discipline, that the Civil
Service Commission should only interfere in cases of dismissal when the
violation of the law, in its letter or spirit, is very evident. In this instance,
however, the Commission does not have to decide, of its own motion,
whether this point has been reached, for the Postmaster General himself asks
for its advice and recommendation in the matter.
In view of the condition of the office when passed over to Mr. Brown,
and in view also of the absence hitherto of any settled policy in the matter of
removals I am unwilling to make any recommendation in this case, but I am
prepared to recommend what I deem the proper course of action for the
future in all such cases. If in the classified service an appointing officer has
made a "clean sweep" in an office, as where ninety odd per cent of the old
employes have been dismissed, or if he has removed (or is removing) a very
large percentage of the employes — whether 80 per cent or a less number,
but at any rate one so large as to raise the presumption that the removals
have been for political reasons — and if he can give no adequate and satisfac-
tory reasons therefor, then he should be deemed to have viokted the civil
service law, and should be himself dismissed, or his resignation requested.
Yours respectfully
181
249 " TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, August i, 1889
Dear Cabot, I am gkd you liked the skit on Fiske; Mr. Dick, having proved
applicable to me at your hands, I thought might be used as a weapon by me
in turn. I am now varying matters by a thrust at that arch-spoilsman Frank
Hatton; who devoted editorial after editorial to me.
Today I caught a glimpse of the President, and repeated to him the
parable of the backwoodsman and the bear. You remember that the prayer
of the backwoodsman was "Oh Lord, help me kill that bar; and if you don't
help me, oh Lord, don't help the bar." Hitherto I have been perfectly con-
tented if the President would preserve an impartial neutrality between me
and the bear, but now, as regards Postmaster Paul of Milwaukee, the Presi-
dent must help somebody, and I hope it won't be the bear. I guess he'll stand
by us all right; but the old fellow always wants to half-do a thing.
I shall leave for the Rockies on Monday evening, if before that I can
settle what may be an ugly fight with the Treasury Department; Windom2
has let a Port Huron collector cut up some fearful antics; I hope he will now
make him undo all his deviltry; otherwise, we shall be forced to make a square
stand up fight of it; which will be very bad, for the President will almost
certainly back Windom, while if he does it is certain to discredit the Admin-
istration. I have put Batcheller on Windom, and he will, I am certain, do all
he can to have the mischief undone; for he sees that the kw has been shame-
fully viokted.
As for Wanamaker he and I are sworn friends; but he will be a little put
out soon; he wishes me to recommend the Baltimore Postmaster's removal
for making a clean sweep, and yet not to make it a precedent.
I saw McKinley the other day; and explained to him that I was support-
ing Reed; he was as pleasant as possible — probably because he considered
my support worthless.
Don't be disappointed if I fail to get you the elk horns; I can take but a
short trip this year, and am especially hot for bear, who haven't any horns.
Yours
250 • TO WILLIAM WARLAND CLAPP Printed*
Washington, August 7, 1889
I have just been reading your interesting editorial upon competitive exam-
inations in England, in which you speak of certain objections that have
recently been brought up against the system as managed in Britain. I am
keenly aware of the shortcomings inevitably attendant upon this as well as
1 Lodge, I, 87-88.
•William Windom, Secretary of the Treasury, 1889-1891.
Boston Journal, August 10, 1889.
182
upon every other system. I do not suppose that any one believes that we are
getting ideal candidates for Government positions under the new method.
We see that this method has certain disadvantages. Some of these we think
we can do away with, for others we have not yet found a satisfactory solu-
tion, but I most emphatically assert that with all its shortcomings the merit
system is an immeasurable advance upon the old spoils system. Moreover,
some of the objections that apply in England do not apply here. In reference
to the objection that by the competitive system we do not get the fittest
person, all I can say is that this is probably true, but we come a good deal
nearer to getting the fittest than we did under the spoils system. If, for in-
stance, Mr. Bell, the head of the railway mail service, were left absolutely
free to manage that service on purely business methods, if it were understood
that no matter how Administrations changed, that for the term of his natural
life, until he became incapacitated by disease or otherwise, and that as long
as he gave satisfaction he was to be continued in charge of the service, and
to be left absolutely unhampered under this and succeeding Administrations,
as to his choice of subordinates, then it would be perfectly safe to leave this
choice entirely in his own hands. But, as a matter of fact, under the old sys-
tem Mr. Bell did not appoint his subordinates at all. They were parceled out
among all the Congressmen of his party, and a few other prominent politi-
cians; each being given so many places to fill, and each being furiously indig-
nant if any question was made as to the candidates whom he chose. Without
doubt a number of the Congressmen choose men who are most excellent
public employes; doubtless they choose them with a view to the interests of
the public service, but a very large number certainly choose them also with
a view to the political exigencies in their own districts, and the employes
thus chosen naturally consider that they owe their first duty to the politician
by whom they are appointed, and their second duty only to the public serv-
ice. One of Mr. Bell's assistants remarked to me the other day that on the
whole, since the civil service rules have been extended to the railway mail
service, the result had been very beneficial; for they got fully as good a class
of men under the new system, and, moreover, were entirely at liberty to
dismiss any of those obtained who did not behave themselves; whereas, of
those obtained under the old method, it was necessary to take account, not
only the man's misconduct, but also the nature of his political backing, before
dismissing him. The result was, he stated, that after a few months of service
those employes furnished by the Civil Service Commission were at a posi-
tive advantage, in point of efficiency, as compared with those furnished by
the old spoils system.
The next point made in England against the system is that the health of
candidates is affected by the strain of competitive examinations. This cer-
tainly is not true here, and the difference is owing to the entirely different
kinds of examinations held in England and held here. Ninety-five per cent, of
our examinations are for places like carrier, clerk and copyist. There is com-
paratively little chance for cramming for these examinations. The examina-
tions are perfectly simple; they are of a practical character already, and we
are trying to make them more practical day by day. A bright, sharp, intelli-
gent man, usually about thirty years old, is shown by that best of tests, experi-
ence, to be the man most apt to succeed in our examinations. The boy fresh
from school or college does not stand so good a chance. This is contrary, as
I am well aware, to the statements usually made by the interested advocates
of the old spoils system; but it is conclusively shown to be the truth, by our
records, by which it appears that the average age of successful candidates is
thirty-one years. We lay great stress, for instance, upon the kind of letter a
candidate writes; and in writing such a letter a man's general sense and intelli-
gence are the things that count. It would be quite impossible for him to
cram up on such a subject. So in examining for the railway mail service, very
great weight is put upon a person's skill and quickness in reading addresses
from a package of cards. This is a practical test in the very line of the man's
duty, and not a subject on which much can be accomplished by cramming.
So with the copyist or clerk, very great stress is laid on penmanship, and
here again the man cannot cram. The questions in spelling and arithmetic are
of a perfectly simple nature, and while cramming here could do something,
again the general intelligence will count for more. We think it right that
every American citizen who wants to enter the public service should know
a little about the geography and history of his native land, and our questions
on these points are perfectly simple, and the total mark to be given for them
counts for but five per cent of the whole. So that even if a man failed on
them utterly he could still get ninety-five per cent, on the examination. There
are, of course, a few positions like that of assistant astronomer, or of assistant
geologist, or of computer in the nautical almanac office, where very special
knowledge is needed. Here we examine men on abstruse and difficult sub-
jects, such as astronomy, geology and the calculus. In no other way could
we get the men we need. But these examinations form an insignificant frac-
tion of the whole. One of the most common forms that the attack on the
merit system takes is the quotation of questions asked in these special exami-
nations with the assertion that they were asked of some clerk or letter carrier.
Just the other day I happened to overhear a very prominent politician from
one of the Middle States openly assert, as a proof of the ridiculousness of the
system, that one of the questions asked a letter carrier was, how many rings
there were to Saturn. Every now and then it is necessary to answer a fool
according to his folly, and as a bet seems to be the only argument that some
people understand, I offered this gentleman to bet him one hundred dollars
to ten, or similar odds in any shape he chose, that he could not show that
such a question had ever been asked a letter carrier, clerk or copyist. He
declined to bet. At first he insisted that his statement was true, then gradu-
ally admitted that it was made by a friend and that he thought it was true,
and finally confessed that he was uncertain about the whole matter. As a
184
matter of fact he had taken a question asked in an examination for assistant
astronomers, and spoke as if it was asked a carrier.
The third point, that competitive examinations for the public service
injure the educational system, certainly does not apply in America for the
very reasons given above. For as far as our examinations are not tests of a
man's general good sense, they are simple tests of such knowledge as he
would now get in our common schools.
My four months in Washington have made me more than ever a most
zealous believer in the merit system. I do not see how any man can watch
the effects of the spoils system, both upon the poor unfortunates who suffer
from it and upon the almost equally unfortunate men who deem that they
benefit by it, without regarding the whole thing in its entirety as a curse to
our institutions. It is a curse to the public service and it is a still greater curse
to Congress, for it puts a premium upon every Congressman turning spoils-
monger instead of statesman. A large number of our Congressmen remain
statesmen, and do most admirable work, but it is in spite of not because of
the spoils system.
In conclusion, let me as a straightout Republican and a strong civil serv-
ice reformer thank The Journal most heartily for the invaluable assistance
it has rendered and is rendering the merit system and the Republican party.
I firmly believe that patronage is the one thing which just at present endan-
gers Republican supremacy, and as a citizen and as a party man alike I feel
that I and those who think as I do owe a positive debt of gratitude to The
Journal for the stand it has taken. Very truly yours
2 5 I • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed 1
St. Paul, August 8, 1889
Dear Cabot, I saw Governor Merriam this morning; he is all straight for
Reed, but of course I don't know, and he doesn't know, what he will be able
to accomplish. On my way back he is to have two of the Congressmen to
meet me at dinner. He was exceedingly pleasant.
Did you see in Belford** Magazine an ode to Grover Cleveland by Edgar
Fawcett? 2 written in stern remonstrance of the folly of the people of this
"tax-wrung" land, who refused to vote for the "high, pure" (I think these
were the adjectives) Grover? The poem itself, the place where it appeared,
the man who wrote it, and the man to whom it was written, taken altogether
formed the most delicious combination I have yet encountered.
Harrison in the Milwaukee Postmaster business followed his usual course
of trying to hold the scales even between myself and the bear. He accepted
1 Lodge, I, 89.
'Edgar Fawcett, prolific author of satirical novels and plays ridiculing New York
society.
Paul's resignation on the one hand, and notified him on the other that if he
hadn't resigned he would have been removed. It was a golden chance to take
a good stand; and it has been lost. It is absolutely impossible for any man
to deserve removal more than Paul did. I suppose a half-and-half, boneless
policy, may be safe; I hope so, most sincerely; but it is neither ennobling nor
inspiring.
Best love to Nannie. Yours
252 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MsS.°
Elkhorn Ranch, Dakota, August 10, 1889
Darling Bye, If you had seen how delighted Mrs. Merrifield was with her
present, and how much she appreciated it, you would have been well con-
tent, you dear, thoughtful Bysie. You and Edith must come out here next
year, and then go to the Yellowstone Park; I do'n't believe I will be able to
keep the ranch house open much longer, and you ought to see something of
the life. I do'n't intend to say anything beforehand, but if we possibly can
we must make the trip.
It would be pleasant from the very start. We should have to spend a day
in Chicago, and another in St. Paul, for my friends in both places would be
mortally offended if we slipped through without seeing them. I saw Bryan1
while I was in Chicago this time, as well as his dear old father. I took lunch
with a party of pleasant people; among them a pretty and very self possessed,
albeit decidedly western, daughter of Senator Farwell.2 My host was a young
fellow named Taylor,8 for whom I feel a good deal of pity, and a good deal
of respect. He is very rich, drives a four-in-hand etc, and feels a strong
desire to play a manly part in American life, without knowing how;« and he
struggles resolutely, and with rather pathetic helplessness, to become a force
for good. He is editting a newspaper, which is in the main healthy in it's
tendencies; but so violently extreme, and so foolish in some of it's positions,
that it's power is practically nil.
At St. Paul I also passed a busy day. I had an extremely pleasant call on
Governor Merriam, and lunched at the club with Almeric Paget and Riddle.
The latter was of course as nice as possible, and particularly anxious to learn
of your doings. Paget was a dear boy, as usual; he had saved up a number of
scraps of newspaper in which I was noticed, to show me.
I am now half pledged to spend a day in Helena, to see my numerous
friends there — including the gentlemen who will probably be the future
senators from Montana. Your loving brother
1 Charles Page Bryan, diplomat, minister to Brazil, 1898-1902.
•Charles Benjamin Farwell, Republican senator from Illinois, 1887-1891.
•Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor, novelist; at this time the editor of America.
186
253 ' TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Helena, Montana, August 28, 1889
Dear Cabot, Having finished my month off, I am now on my way home. By
Jupiter, I feel well; I have had a hard but a very successful trip — moose,
bear, elk, etc.; one bear nearly got me — and never was in better condition.
So now for work again.
They have all received me like a prince here in Helena; I wish to Heaven
I could take off my coat and go into the campaign for the next three weeks;
I get along pretty well with a Rocky Mountain audience. It is nip and tuck
here; I think we have lost the governorship, which is of no great moment,
but there is at least an even chance for the Congressman and legislature. In
Washington our party has been split in bad shape; but a great effort is being
made to heal the breach.
I wish Tom Reed could have come out here on the stump; I know it
would have strengthened him with the northwestern members.
I just saw The Nation with its long reviews of the Washington — unless
I am mistaken they were written by Everett. It seemed to me that they con-
tained the sincerest of all tributes, that unwillingly extorted from an enemy;
their length acknowledged the importance of the book, and their hostility
on certain points was most genuine flattery.
Write me to Oyster Bay until the 2oth; then Washington.
Best love to Nannie. Yours
Is Sullivan2 really going to run for Congress? I think it is the most exqui-
site bit of humor if he does.
254 • TO ARTHUR WILLIAM MERRIFIELD Printed*
Washington, September 25, 1889
Dear Merrifield: All hail to you, brother politician. When I left I had no
idea that the Maltese Cross brand was so soon to be represented by yet an-
other candidate for political distinction.2 Of course I wish you all the luck
possible. If you are elected, I presume that you will act always for the benefit
of the whole people of the State, and especially of your section. A man
should never carry his partisanship into measures that affect the welfare of
the community. When you are elected I shall write you again just to give a
few final words of advice, and to caution you not to be led into any plausible
scheme by the designing men so often found around a legislature. You will
have to encounter many temptations. I have far too much confidence in your
1 Lodge, I, 89-90.
1 John L. Sullivan, the heavyweight champion of the world.
1<<Five Commandments A Letter From the Private Correspondence of Theodore
Roosevelt," Collier's, 64:8 (September 27, 1919).
1 Merrifield was running for a seat in the legislature of North Dakota.
187
principle and high character to doubt that you will meet them in a way
worthy of your past life.
I. Make up your mind to hew to the line, and let the chips fly where they
will.
II. Act absolutely straight.
III. Take no action that you would not be willing to have published
abroad and known by your friends as well as your enemies.
IV. Cast no vote for which you do not feel full warranty in your own
conscience, and do not be bothered in the least by what either the politi-
cians, the newspapers, or the people at large say about you.
V. Above all, never get die political bee in your bonnet. Never try to
shape your course so that you shall secure a reelection or a continuance of a
political career.
However, I did not mean to preach. If there is anything I can do for you,
I shall do it. Ever your faithful friend
255 • TO CHARLES ANDERSON DANA RoOSevelt AIsS.°
Washington, September 25, 1889
Sir: * In your issue of last Sunday there appeared a letter signed "Cumber-
land," 2 occupying four columns of your valuable space. As one or two of
it's misstatements seem to need an answer, I may as well reply to the others
also; and I respectfully request that you print this letter in your next Sunday
edition, that the refutation may circulate as widely as the original document.
Cumberland's letter is nominally a criticism of my "Winning of the
West"; it is really written on behalf of Edmund Kirke (James R. Gilmore),
in an effort, more malevolent than successful, to take vengeance because in
my book I was forced, much against my will, to demolish the very unsub-
stantial structures which it had pleased Mr. Kirke to style "histories" of the
early Tennesee leaders.
I will not touch upon Cumberland's expressions of opinion, for his opin-
ion is to me a matter of profound indifference; but I will discuss his state-
ments of fact seriatim.
In the first place, in his entire four columns he is able to produce just
two errors that I have committed — once in speaking of the diameter, in-
stead of the circumference, of a tree, and once in alluding to the novelist
1 Charles Anderson Dana, editor of the New York Sun, 1868-1807. Under Dana
the paper pursued a perverse editorial independence in national and local politics.
As an editor, he attracted first-rate newspapermen who, under his watchful eye, pro-
duced, as he hoped they would, a "daily photograph of the world's doings in the
most humorous and lively manner."
* James Roberts Gilmore, author, principally of "popular" histories. In 1864, to-
gether with James F. Jaquess, he went through the Southern lines and discussed
with Jefferson Davis the possibilities for peace. Gilmore published his account of
this interview under the pseudonym "Edmund Kirke." A lover of anonymity, appar-
ently, he is the "Cumberland" of this letter.
188
Kennedy as Robert L. instead of John P.. Of course these were both mere
slips of the pen, which have already been corrected in my second 'edition,
now out or about to come out.
His first column is occupied mainly with quotations to prove that I
criticised unfavorably portions of the writings of the western historians. He
omits the favorable criticisms; and his historical and critical knowledge is
evidently much too limited for him to see that every criticism I have made
is absolutely just. He sums up by saying that I "cast aside as worthless" the
work of my predecessors. This is a falsehood. I have merely done what
neither Cumberland, nor yet his alter ego Edmund Kirke, is capable of doing
— that is I have discriminated between narratives that are true and narratives
that are false, and, in the same narrative, between the parts that are trust-
worthy and those that are not.
He then comes to the defence of Mr. Gilmore, complaining that I let
off Ramsey "scot free," and yet distrust the accuracy of Gilmore "who
assumes to be scarcely more than the mouthpiece of Ramsey"; and, again,
that I "stigmatize as 'oral tradition gathered one hundred years after the
event' information which Mr. Gilmore expressly declares that he derived
from" Ramsey. In the first place even accepting Mr. Gilmore's modest claim
to be only a mouthpiece, there is a world of difference between the credit
attaching to the statements made by Ramsey in his history, with the original
documents before him, and the credit to be given statements by the "mouth
piece" which he asserts are based on what he was told by Ramsey when the
latter was ninety years old about matters that happened long before those
ninety years had begun. In the next place, the "mouthpiece" claim is a mere
af terthought. Mr. Gilmore's own words, in the preface to his first volume,
are: "a large part of my material I have derived from what may be termed
original sources — old settlers, whose statements I have carefully verified
and compared with one another." In other words a large part of his material
is oral tradition gathered a hundred years after the event.
In his next column Cumberland comes to the material on which I base
much of my book. Concerning this he says "The truth is that of the manu-
scripts and documents which he (Mr. Roosevelt) enumerates as unpublished
there is not one that has not been repeatedly examined by historians, and no
fact of any historical importance is contained in any one of them which has
not been already published. A claim made at this late date to the discovery
or use of any valuable original document relating to early Tennesee or Ken-
tucky is, on the face of it, too absurd for serious refutation." Choosing almost
at random from among the many manuscripts which I quote in my book, I
now challenge Cumberland to specify the printed history of date prior to
my own in which is to be found for instance the journal of Floyds first trip
to Kentucky, or the original account, as I give it, of the treaty of the Syca-
more Shoals, or the petition for the erection of Kentucky and Illinois into a
state in 1780, or the account of Hamilton's march from Detroit to Vincennes,
189
or the original journal of Clark's siege of Vincennes, (which was intercepted
by the British), or the journal of Hickman's visit to Kentucky, or the letters
from Colbert and Cameron in reference to the Cherokee wars in Tennesee,
or Colbert's letter about the flotilla which went down the Tennesee eight
months before Donelson's, or the British partisan McKee's account of the
fights with Floyd and Squire Boone, or the British official reports of the
Battle of the Blue Licks and the seiges of Boonsboro and Bryants Station, or
the petition of the French Creoles to Congress, etc., etc., etc. If he can not
specify the histories wherein these, and many others like them, (such as the
accounts in the Virginia State Papers of Seviers campaigns, and in the Ameri-
can archives of the Cherokee campaigns of 1776) are to be found — and I
well know that he can not so specify — then I denounce him as having
penned a deliberate falsehood.
Cumberland goes on to speak of Collin's history, and says "In Collins
work may be found all the facts which Mr. Roosevelt credits to the McAfee
manuscripts and also all that are contained in what he calls the Campbell
manuscripts which have any reference to either Tennesee or Kentucky."
Again choosing almost at random I challenge him to name the volume and
page of Collins wherein are to be found the facts concerning the McAfees'
characteristic adventure with the escaped bondservant, or with the buffalos
at the lick, or the account of the attack on Piqua, or their census of Ken-
tucky in 1777, all of which I give from the McAfee manuscripts; or Arthur
Campbell's account of the battle of Boyd's Creek, or David Campbell's ac-
count of the Holston settlers, or the letters of Preston and Shelby concern-
ing the battle of the Great Kanawha, which I take from the Campbell manu-
scripts. If Cumberland can not so specify volume and page — and of course
he can not — I denounce him as having penned another deliberate falsehood.
Cumberland then devotes a column to irrelevant matter concerning the
historians Ramsey and Haywood, ending with an unimportant misstatement,
carefully put in vague language, concerning my relations to Putnam's history.
He then has an enigmatical sentence about the American State Papers,
which I do not use at all in my two published volumes; I presume he refers
to what I have called the State Department Mss, of which he apparently does
not so much as know the existence. I again challenge him to specify the
pkces where the documents I quote (such as the letters of Colbert, Tait, the
Creoles etc) are printed.
Following this comes a delicious bit of unconscious humour; for with
comic gravity Cumberland puts aside the Haldimand manuscripts as "merely
the British account of events that have been often told and no doubt as truth-
fully by American writers." He is evidently in full sympathy with the
famous judge who refused to hear the evidence except on one side, for fear
it would unsettle his convictions.
He ends his third column by discussing the Gardoqui papers, to which
I merely alluded in my printed volumes. In my next two volumes I shall
190
discuss them at length, and I may mention incidentally that when I come to
the couple already printed by Mr. Kirke I shall also discuss an antic of Mr.
Kirke in the way of history making which is even more noteworthy than
any on which I have hitherto touched.
So far all that Cumberland asserts can be shown to be false from my book
itself. I have met him on every point he has raised, have made the issue spe-
cific, and have challenged him to show that what he says is true. His asser-
tions are sweeping generalities; so in each instance I have given him a num-
ber of definite cases; and each instance admits of a definite answer. If his
assertions are true then he can point out the book and the page where the
documents which I have specified above are to be found; and if he can not
point them out (and most assuredly he can not) then he stands convicted of
repeated and deliberate falsehoods. Let him answer definitely one way or the
other; and let him answer over his own name, and no longer skulk behind a
thin disguise — for there is no difficulty in guessing who he really is.
But in his fourth column he makes a charge which there might be diffi-
culty in answerring from the printed volumes alone; and it is solely because
of this that I have answered his article at all. The charge is in substance that
the most valuable part of my book was not written by me but by some per-
son unknown. It is a charge which if true would convict me of gross deceit;
and which, as it is false, stamps the maker as a person unfit to associate with
any honorable man.
He wishes to show that I did not begin to work on the book until too
late to really write it; and he begins with the gratuitous falsehood that I did
not visit Tennesee until late in September 1888. In reality I visited it in
March, and did not go there again during that year. He continues "It would
have been simply impossible for him (Mr. Roosevelt) to do what he claims
to have done in the time that was at his disposal. . . . The most that could
have been done in that brief period was to submit the completed manuscripts
on proof sheets already composed from printed authorities to some western
scholar familiar with the original documents and to employ him to verify
the facts and incidents by a comparison with the old manuscripts. This was
probably the course pursued, and the evidence of it is in the notes of the
book themselves, which supply very many facts not in the text of the book
— facts that would naturally have found place there had both text and notes
been written by the same hand." I hereby offer a thousand dollars, which I
will pay at once to Cumberland, or Edmund Kirke or Mr. Gilmore or any
one else who can show that the above statement is true, in whole or in part,
about so much as a single page of my book; or to any one who can show
that ten lines of it, notes or text, were written by any one but myself. I
wrote it all either in New York, or at my Long Island home, with before me,
as I worked at each chapter, the original manuscripts, or exact copies of
them, or else the rough notes and abstracts I had myself made of them. As
well as I recollect no man saw a line of it until it was printed, except the
191
publishers and possibly my friend Cabot Lodge. The matter is fortunately
easily settled. The original manuscript of the book is still in the hands of the
Publishers, the Messrs Putnams, 27 West 23d St New York; a glance at it
will be sufficient to show that from the first chapter to the last the text and
notes are by the same hand and written at the same time. I shall be pleased to
have any reputable man whom the Editor of the Sun may designate call and
examine the manuscript.
I challenge Cumberland to come out over his own name and substantiate
his charge — a charge all the meaner because it is as much inuendo as direct
assertion; and until he does thus substantiate it I brand him as a coward who
dares not sign his name to the lying slander he has penned.
256 ' TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Washington, September 27, 1889
Dear Cabot, I wrote you as soon as I saw the results of your work; and I
have just received your letter written before the convention. I have already
told you how admirable I thought the platform; and apparently you scored
a complete victory in the Beard matter.2 To an outsider Crapo would seem
a better nominee than Brackett.8 Do you think there is any danger of Rus-
sell's election? 4 I would mortally hate to see a mugwump triumph — espe-
cially in view of the usual mugwump lying that is now going on, notably in
the Times and Post, about the N. Y. Republican convention's civil service
plank. As a matter of fact that plank is as explicit as possible, for it makes
special reference to the C. S. plank in the national platform, endorsing it
without reservation.
The Advertiser articles were admirable.
Thank Heaven I have Thompson for a colleague. Lyman is a good, hon-
est, hardworking man, very familiar with the law; but he is also the most
intolerably slow of all the men who ever adored red tape.
1 Lodge, I, 92.
•Alanson W. Beard, "an 'old school' politician . . . who did very efficient service
in securing the Massachusetts delegation at the Chicago convention for Harrison,"
was the candidate of Senators Hoar and Dawes for die office of collector of the
port of Boston. Lodge and the other Massachusetts congressmen, with many local
leaders, favored the appointment of a Republican in place of Collector Leverett
Saltonstall but opposed Beard because of his close affiliation with Hoar. At the
Massachusetts convention, Lodge secured the adoption of a plank calling for the
choice of men "who represent and are thoroughly acceptable to the great body
of die party" for "leading Federal offices which are of a political nature." An ob-
vious insult to Hoar and Beard, this plank was also offensive to civil service
reformers who wanted Saltonstall retained. Lodge's was only a temporary victory,
for in spite of the sentiment of the convention, Harrison appointed Beard.
•John Quincy Adams Brackett, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, defeated
William Wallace Crapo, Republican congressman from Massachusetts, 1875-1883,
in the contest for the Republican nomination for governor of the Commonwealth.
* William Eustis Russell, the Democratic nominee for governor, was defeated by
Brackett. He later served two terms (1891-1893) as governor.
192
I was particularly pleased at Howells selecting the two points he did to
lay stress on in his review of your Washington. I wrote him a note of thanks
for what he said about my book. Edmund Kirke has made an assault of
fairly hysterical rage upon me through the New York Sun. I do wish I
could see you. Will you be on here shortly after the election? Yours
257 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Washington, October 8, 1889
Dear Cabot, I have time for but a line, for we are just closing the office. The
town is jammed with a huge "re-union" of Knights Templar, all clad in
cheap finery and prancing solemnly through the streets in processions huge
and vast. All their wives and daughters have come too, and the hotels swarm
so one can hardly get a meal; they all look very serious, and sheepishly proud
of their gaudy appearance, and altogether are having a very characteristic
American holiday.
I will give you full particulars of the Lyman matter when we meet.2 I
am delighted Tom Reed is in the territories.
It made my blood boil when I read Curtis' speech. I strongly admire
your attacking them fair and square; of course do it with the discrimination
which I especially complain of them for not showing. Show the great harm
they do by pretending to be independent, and foully slandering decent men
in a spirit of shameless partisanship. Treat Curtis courteously; but point out
that he and his friends so far from being independents are the bitterest —
and many of them the most unscrupulous — of partisans; they belong to a
bitter Democratic faction, none the less bitterly democratic because it hap-
pens to be at odds with another faction. My hands are tied by my position
here; otherwise I should be at their throats in a moment — while not hesitat-
ing to acknowledge that there is much the Administration has done of which
I do not in the least approve.
Best love to Nannie. Yours
1 Lodge, I, 93-94.
"The Lyman case was a further attempt on the part of Frank Hatton to discredit
the Civil Service Commission. In 1887, Alexander C. Campbell, a brother-in-law of
Charles Lyrnan, the commissioner, copied some arithmetical questions and answers
from a civil service examination for Mis. Isabella Smith. In some fashion these ques-
tions were obtained by a man named Flynn, who coached prospective candidates
for civil service examinations. Flynn, in turn, tried to sell the questions to Miss
Emily N. Dabney. She refused to buy them, took a civil service examination, and
failed. Disgruntled, perhaps by her failure, she announced that she had recognized
on the examination some of the questions Flynn had tried to sell her. The com-
mission, for reasons which remain obscure, censured Campbell but did not try to
find out whether the questions copied were obsolete, as tie maintained. Campbell
was later promoted. Hatton brought the matter before the congressional committee
at the time that the Milwaukee situation was being investigated.
193
• TO CHARLES ANDERSON DANA RoOSCVelt MSS.°
Washington, October 10, 1889
Sir: In last Sunday's edition of the Sun, Mr. Jas. R. Gilmore at length casts
aside his various aliases and appears over his own proper signature; and I
must trespass on your space to answer him.
Mr. Gilmore's attack was nominally a criticism of my "Winning of the
West," but in reality an effort to avenge himself for a private grievance. This
he practically acknowledges by devoting one of the two columns which his
last letter occupies solely to a correspondence that took place between him-
self and myself. This has no bearing whatever on the accuracy of my work
or the inaccuracy of his; but I shall discuss it briefly before taking up the
more important matters.
As I distinctly stated in the appendix to volume I of my work I was at
the outset, when I first read them, charmed with Mr. Gilmore's books. I had
then no suspicion of their utter untrustworthiness, and I wrote freely to Mr.
Gilmore. As soon as I came to study them I found that if I intended to write
an honest book I would needs have to condemn his as dishonest; and I then
instantly ceased all communication with him, and have never written him
since: the fact is simply that in preparing my book I wrote to some hundreds
of men all over the country, requesting information on different points. A
few of these men answered me refusing the information; a great many did
not answer at all. Others answered promising me what I asked; I thanked
them most warmly; and when the assistance was actually given (as by Judge
Lea, Col. Durrett, Col. Brown, Mr. Warfield, etc. etc. etc.) I specifically
acknowledged my obligations in my book. Yet others promised assistance in
even heartier terms; again I thanked them warmly, and when they failed to
make good their promises I simply said nothing more about it, one way or
the other. Mr. Gilmore comes in the latter class. He promised me more than
any other correspondent I had; he utterly failed to keep his promise. Liter-
ally all he did was to forward me a letter to Judge Lea, to whom I had
already written, and who had already answered my letter promising me
every assistance in his power — a promise which unlike Mr. Gilmore he kept.
When I forwarded him Mr. Gilmore's letter he wrote back that it was quite
needless. When I first read Mr. Gilmore's books I was already familiar with
the printed Tennesee histories, and I hailed Mr. Gilmore as a writer who
was doing a really remarkable work; for I saw at a glance that he had intro-
duced a mass of material that was not to be found in the old histories, and it
never occurred to me for a moment that this new material was invented. I
supposed that he must have a quantity of newly found manuscripts, and, as
his own books were of sketchy character, I thought he might be willing to
let me have such of these manuscripts as he was not going to use. The exact
words of my request were, as he quotes them, for the "material for which
194
you no longer have use, that on which you in part based your life of Sevier
and your recent sketch of Robertson." In response Mr. Gilmore wrote prom-
ising with the utmost effusiveness that he would place at my disposal "all
his material." I was extremely pleased and very grateful, and wrote a most
warm letter of thanks. Then I waited patiently several weeks, but never
received the promised material, and never found it in any of the depositaries
through which I hunted; and gradually it dawned on me that he could not
keep his promise to give me the new matter for the very good reason that
the new matter did not exist. Mr. Gilmore never sent me a page or a docu-
ment of any kind, he never gave me any information that I did not already
have, or which, on being followed up did not prove worthless, he never sent
me a line to any one in Kentucky; literally all he did was to send me a letter
to Judge Lea with whom I was already in correspondence, and to promise
me very valuable aid which he never gave. When he so freely made me this
promise I supposed of course that he both could and would keep it; and
I thanked him in the heartiest languge I could muster. My thanks proved to
have been wasted; and when I found this out I kept silent; but I certainly did
not feel under any obligations to falsify history so that his own falsifications
might pass uncondemned. In order to write truthfully it was necessary to
prick Mr. Gilmore's historical bubble; and accordingly I pricked it in pass-
ing. He well knows that he can not answer a single criticism I have made on
his books. Be it remembered that the criticisms are neither vague nor gen-
eral; they are definite and precise, challenging Mr. Gilmores truthfulness,
and to leave them unanswered is to confess the absolute untrustworthiness
of what it has pleased his fancy to call "histories" of early Tennesee events.
Now, to come down to Mr. Gilmore's criticism of my "Winning of the
West." His vague general charges I must perforce content myself with
merely denying. For instance he says that when I come to Tennesee matters
my book is a mere "rewriting" of the older Tennesee histories. This charge
is a simple falsehood. Some of my chapters, as chapter VII of volume I, and
chapters XI and XII of vol II, are based mainly, though by no means ex-
clusively, on the old Tennesee historians; and this I expressly and fully state,
on pp 170 and 185 of vol I, and pp 342, 348, 355 and 364 of vol II. In other
chapters, as VII, IX, and XI of vol I, and X, of vol II, the old writers are
a hindrance rather than a help, and I had to carefully unravel their errors,
show the inaccuracy of their statements and for the first time give the real
history, basing it on the original documents in the American Archives, the
Campbell Mss, the Virginia State Papers, etc. If Mr. Gilmore were a compe-
tent critic he would know this; were he an honest one he would say it. As
for his assertion that I copy from his works some "facts" which are to be
found nowhere else, if he will point them out I will not only be surprised
but grateful, and will promptly proceed to strike them from my pages; for
I do not wish my book to contain any "facts" that are not authentic.
195
But I have no idea of letting Mr. Gilmore take refuge, as he seeks to, in
generalities. He made certain sweeping and definite statements; I promptly
furnished a number of instances by which their truth or falsehood could be
tested; and to these I intend to pin him. He first stated that every single
document I quoted that was of any historical importance was already to be
found in the printed histories. I instantly named a dozen, challenging him to
tell in what printed history they were to be found. This he does not even
attempt to do; but makes a rambling series of really very funny excuses. He
first says I only furnish a "meagre list" of examples. I gave him a dozen; I
could quite as easily have given him a hundred; but a dozen was enough to
convict him of untruth just twelve times over. He says that the hitherto
unknown British accounts of the different battles are unimportant because
"they are probably not more truthful than the American." On the same
principle Grant's official reports would be valueless because "probably not
more truthful than Lee's." Similarly he deems the letters of the British Indian
agents valueless because the pioneers would like to have hanged the men who
wrote them! Really Mr. Gilmore's mental processes seem to be akin to those
of the White Queen in Alice Through the Looking Glass. It makes one
almost ashamed to be in a controversy with him. There is a half-pleasurable
excitement in facing an equal foe; but there is none whatever in trampling
on a weakling.
On the first count Mr Gilmore thus stands guilty on his own showing.
It is exactly so with the next, which relates to his similar statements about
the State Department Mss. He simply shuffles round. For instance in answer
to the challenge to point out the printed volume containing the letters I
quote from Colbert he says Colbert took no part in the Cherokee wars until
1792. If he will turn to pages 89 and 334 of my second volume he will see
he was taking a very active part in 1779.
As regards Mr Gilmore's similar charge about the matter I quoted from
the Macaf ee and Campbell papers being in Collins I gave him eight instances.
As to five of these he makes no effort to show that he told the truth, and
thereby admits that he did not. But for the remaining three quotations he
gives references in Collins. I shall set him a good and much needed example
by at once acknowledging that in one case, that of the escaped bondservant,
his reference is right. Again in the second case, that of the buffalos at the
lick the adventure as given in Collins is somewhat but not very markedly
different from the adventure as quoted by me from the original mss. In the
third, and very much the most important, case, the fight at Piqua, Mr Gil-
more deliberately seeks to cover up his first misstatement by giving false
references. I for the first time described the fight at length and in detail,
making much use of the McAfee mss; Mr. Gilmores references are not to
quotations from the McAfee mss. at all, but merely to bare notices of the
fight, a couple of lines in length, such as all the Kentucky historians, from
196
Filson down, had already given. That the two accounts have but the slightest
relation to one another can be seen by turning to the references Mr. Gilmore
gives, Collins, II, pp. 1 38, 1 39 & 449, and then to my account in the "Winning
of the West," volume II, pages 104 to in.
Therefore Mr. Gilmore fails to clear himself on any one of my counts;
and so by his second letter he stands convicted of having penned a string of
untruths in his first.
I now finally come to his most serious charge, which was in effect that
I had not written my book myself, but that the most important part must be
by "another hand." I promptly met this perfectly gratuitous slander by
offerring Mr. Gilmore a thousand dollars if he could prove it, in whole or
in part, of so much as a single page. I also offerred to have the manuscript,
which is at the Messrs. Putnams examined by any responsible man the Sun's
Editor might name, to show that the text and notes are written at the same
time and by the same hand, or else any one who wishes can write Mr. Geo.
Haven Putnam on the subject and publish his reply. From the first line to the
last every word was written by me. Mr. Gilmore makes no effort whatever
to substantiate his accusation in his second letter. He simply says it was "im-
possible" for me to write my book in the time elapsing after my return from
Tennesee in March. As a matter of fact I began the actual writing somewhere
about the first of May, and finished the second volume about the first of
April following, when much of the first volume was already in press; two
months or over were taken out, while I was away on my ranch, or on the
stump in the political campaign; so that the actual writing occupied a scant
nine months — and a good part of the time I reproached myself for idleness.
Of course my rough notes and manuscripts were already carefully arranged
when I began and I had been for years saturating myself with the subject.
I therefore speak with guarded moderation when I denounce Mr. Gil-
more for having penned a particularly mean and malicious falsehood. Is Mr.
Gilmore ignorant of the ordinary rules of common decency and common
honesty? Does he not know that to make so foul and wanton an accusation,
and then to fail to back it up by so much as a scintilla of proof, is to brand
himself as infamous? Out of his own mouth he stands convicted; and hence-
forth all honorable men are warranted in treating any statement he may make
with contemptuous indifference.
259 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, October 17, 1889
Dear Cabot, I have carefully read through your speech; and I like it much.
It has drawn blood; the Times had a long editorial thereon — in which by
1 Lodge, I, 94-95.
197
the way it admitted that you had fully cleared yourself as regards the Navy
Yard charges.
But I think you can do still better on the same subject; I hope you will
carefully prepare yourself and make one more, and even stronger — much
stronger — attack on the base hypocrisy and insincerity of the mugwumps,
at some opportune time in the present campaign. Make it when the speech
will be printed in full.
I hate to seem to urge you into a fight which I can not share; but you
know well I am f airly straining at the leash in my eagerness to be in the fray
myself; and I am certain that a telling attack on the mugwumps helps you
greatly, with your party and with the people at large. They hate you bit-
terly; and I fully believe that from the stand point of mere policy it will pay
you to pitch into them. I owe them a debt of gratitude; for their utterly
unjust and hypocritical malevolence has quite reconciled me to the Admin-
istration, of which, as you know, I only lukewarmly approved. Dwell on the
fact that they are the most dangerous foes of the reform.
The Evening Post speaks of the democratic victory in Indianapolis as a
"wholesome mugwump triumph"; point out that it was a victory for the
ballot-box stuffer Sim Coy, whom the democrats nominated while his hair
was still short from his 18 months in prison — and whom therefore the mug-
wumps elected. Point out with additional emphasis the inexcusable partisan-
ship of Curtis' speech, its utter hypocrisy and injustice, as shown by his back-
ing up the non-civil service reform platform of the Massachusetts democrats.
Take President Eliot's words wherein he disposes of the "independent" non-
sense, and shows a man ought to be a party man, and point out the ridiculous
position in which this leaves his fellow mugwumps; and show how ridicu-
lously he himself now stands towards civil service reform, ballot reform,
high license, and the like.2 Above all show the utter hypocrisy of the mug-
wump newspapers of N. Y. and Boston (name them) ; instance the way they
treated Russell and Burnett3 on Civil Service Reform, and how quiet they
kept while Collins4 and Cleveland stuffed your Navy Yard. Speak courte-
ously of Curtis and Eliot; less so of the Post, etc., and use towards all the most
bitingly severe language you can muster. Make your points as clear as possi-
ble; and thrust the steel well home. It is foolish to show mercy.
I will be here a fortnight more, to read to Edith, etc. Love to Nannie.
Yours
* Charles William Eliot, in addition to his duties as president of Harvard University,
served as an informed spokesman on matters of public interest. His advocacy of
honesty in politics and his opposition to imperialism predisposed him toward the
Democratic party in Cleveland's time. Active and influential throughout Roose-
velt's career, Eliot frequently dissented from the views of his institution's fa-
mous alumnus.
•Edward Burnett, Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, 1887-1889.
* Patrick Andrew Collins, Massachusetts politician, active supporter of Cleveland;
member of Congress, 1883-1889; consul general in London, 1893-1897; mayor of
Boston, 1902-1905.
198
260 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, October 19, 1889
Dear Cabot, Perhaps, if the mugwumps are showing signs of repentance,
you might as well wait a short while before hitting them again. I am glad
the Record is to print an abstract of your speech — but the Record has been
most unfair and partisan in its relative attitude to the Republicans as com-
pared to the Democrats.
As I told you I liked your speech very much; yet I want you some
time to do even a little better, by elaborating it more, so as to show at
length the essential injustice and insincerity of the mugwump position.
I will meet Dodge in New York (say at the Union League Club, 39*
St. and 5th Ave.) any day next week; but let him write me at least three
or four days before hand. I regard Saltonstall as an honest, brave, old puz-
zlehead; the best of tools for politicians. But I hope I won't have to attack
him myself; it will be very awkward for me. Of course, excellent though
Thompson is (and I can not be glad enough he is my colleague) I hardly
dare trust him in such work. As for Lyman, he is utterly useless; I wish
I had one more good Republican on the Commission: Lyman is utterly
out of place as a Commissioner; I wish to heaven he were off.2 If I only
had an honest, intelligent and fearless Republican colleague, who would
never be partisan, but whom I could trust for just such work as this! Yours
ever
2 6 I • TO CARL WILHELM ERNST R.M.A. MSS.
Oyster Bay, October 27, 1889
My dear Mr. Ernst: x I never could make anything out of Mr. Cleavland's
letter.2 My own feeling is that employees in die classified service ought not
to take any public part in politics at all; they ought to vote and say what
they wished in private — but not caucuses or public meetings.
1 Lodge, I, 95-96.
"Elsewhere Lyman has been characterized as "honest, hard-working and reliable."
He exerted a steadying influence upon the whole commission. Dorman B. Eaton,
who was thoroughly familiar with the commission at this time, wrote that Lyman
was invaluable in his understanding of the practical work of the commission. Roo-
sevelt, he added, was fitted to be captain of the Civil Service ship," Lyman to be
its "engineer."
1 Carl Wilhelm Ernst, German emigre", political journalist, and Lutheran minister, at
this time was the private secretary to the mayor of Boston. In 1900-1901 he served
as assistant postmaster in Boston.
8 On December 25, 1881, President Cleveland sent a letter to the National Civil
Service Reform League setting forth his cautious interpretation of the Civil Service
Law of 1883. In the course of this statement he warned Democrats that faithful
party work could not always be rewarded by office.
199
Outside of the classified service I think it better to draw no line than
draw a hypercritical one; and I must frankly acknowledge that up to the
present time I have never seen any one who could draw the line satisfac-
tory. I think the "offensive partisanship" business was a humbug. I think
a public officer should always behave with decorum; and good taste: but
beyond this very vague generality I am afraid I cannot go.
So all I can say is that I would draw a sharp line between those officers
the law now makes non-political, and those it does not touch; and would
prohibit men holding the former from all campaign work. Yours always
262 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, October 30, 1889
Dear Cabot, Last evening the Crugers invited me over to dine with His-
cock; and tonight I dine with ex-Senator Miller. Hiscock remarked that the
New York delegation were "practically solid" for Reed; and he said that
he thought we stood an excellent chance of electing our State ticket — he
is the first politican who has told me so. Miller is, naturally, in a bitterly
angry and contemptuous mood towards the Administration; as for the elec-
tion he says that no human being can forecast the result; if the Cleveland
men are not curs they will stand aloof, and if [they] do we may very well
win.
The man who criticised me in The Atlantic knew a good deal of the sub-
ject; I don't suppose any author sets a true value on his work; but I felt that
he did not give me sufficient credit for the many things I had done, while he
made one or two points — and failed signally in trying to make one or two
others against me. On the whole I thought he was a hostile critic; and there-
fore the grudging praise that was unwillingly extorted from him was all
the more valuable. I have finished my controversy with Kirke; in my last
letter I put the knife into him up to the hilt.
What funnily varied lives we do lead, Cabot! We touch two or three
little worlds, each profoundly ignorant of the others. Our literary friends
have but a vague knowledge of our actual political work; and a goodly
number of our sporting and social acquaintances know us only as men of
good family, one of whom rides hard to hounds, while the other hunts
big game in the Rockies.
Can I come pretty often to dinner while in Washington before Edith
comes?
You must beat Russell. It would be gall and wormwood to have him
elected.
Love to Nannie. Yours
1 Lodge, I, 97-98.
200
263 • TO LUCIUS BtJRRIE SWIFT Swift MSS?
Washington, November 7, 1889
My dear Mr Swift, I thought your letter, which I herewith re-inclose, ex-
cellent; I hardly think, however, that the questions can all have been asked
in good faith. I am glad to have known of the matter.
I think we have a pretty clear case of political assessments against a
Republican (Mahone) club here;1 and, with much difficulty, we are now
getting it into such shape that in a few days I think we can bring it before the
Grand Jury.
I have written out the rough draft of the annual report; I take occasion
therein to make a reply once for all to some of the stock misstatements of
the spoilsmen. I think my draft will be substantially adopted as the Com-
mission's report.
I very much wish I could see you; there are some things I would like
to talk over with you.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Swift. Very sincerely yours
P.S. I wonder whether the late elections will serve as a warning or as an
irritant to some of our Republican friends.
264-10 WILLIAM FREDERICK POOLE Printed*
Washington, November 8, i8892
My dear Mr. Poole: I have just received your second letter; I have delayed
answering your first until I could look up your chapter in "Winsor."
This morning I went over to the congressional library, and found it.
I was of course greatly interested in it; if I had examined it before (as I cer-
tainly should have done — I can only cry peccavi) it would have helped me
very much. The 1780 plan of the British is a very important matter; I think
you must be the only man who has appreciated its importance. By the way,
I doubt if Byrd's retreat was due to Clark; Clark hardly began to gather his
men together until Byrd had taken the two stations, and the latter retreated
1 William Mahone, during Harrison's administration, controlled the patronage of
Virginia. His influence as a "powerful ravager" was considered equal to that of
Platt in New York and Quay in Pennsylvania. However clear a case the commission
devised against him in the matter of political assessments, he managed to avoid con-
viction in the courts in spite of several attempts by the commission to secure a
decision against him.
1 George Burwell Utiey, "Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West: Some
Unpublished Letters," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 30:502-503 (March
1944). William Frederick Poole, founder of Poole's Index to Periodical Literature)
librarian of the Newberry Library, Chicago, was one of the first great American
librarians. He contributed chapter 9, "The West, from the Treaty of Peace with
France, 1763, to the Treaty of Peace with England, 1783," to volume VT of the Nar-
rative and Critical History of America (Boston, 1884-1889), edited by Justin Winsor.
•This letter was incorrectly dated October 8th.
2OI
immediately. I have always supposed that it was due simply to the fact that
the indians could not be kept together for a campaign — they were good
for one stroke and no more.
You caught me fairly on the "Hannibal of the West" and "Washington
of the West"; they were allusions I had seen in all the small western his-
tories; but I never thought of looking up who had originated them.
By the way, the Bushy Run fight I am inclined to regard as less credit-
able to Bouquet than is usually supposed; you know Smith says the Indians
lost but some sixteen men (not the 60 of which Bouquet's admirers speak),
and they were certainly greatly inferior in number to Bouquet's men.
The congressional library has not got vol. IX or any kter volume of the
Mich. Pioneer Collection; which accounts for my having missed them. I am
greatly indebted to you for the trouble you have taken in giving me the
references. I shall get the Michigan Pioneer Coll. at once. The chapter just
before yours in "Winsor" I also read with much interest; it deals in part
with the Cherokee campaign of 1776, and I see takes the same view I do,
although with much less elaboration and with some errors. I ought to have
known of this chapter also; but (unlike your chapter) it would not have
given me any information I did not possess.
Butterfield's work on the Girtys will be interesting. His "Crawford's
campaign" was good; but he was all wrong in regarding Crawford's troops
as good fighters; they were whipped with ease by a very much smaller (not
a very much larger) force of Indians and Detroit rangers. Caldwell was
wounded in the Sandusky fight.
Are you going to be on at the American Hist. Ass. meeting this year?
If not, I shall at any rate meet you when next I go through Chicago. Of
course you must let me know if you ever come East.
What I am especially aiming at in my history is to present the important
facts, and yet to avoid being drowned in a mass of detail. It is hard to strike
the "just middle" between hastiness on the one hand and intolerable anti-
quarian minuteness on the other. Such a book as Draper's King's Mountain
for instance is not a history at all; it is a mass of matter, some of great his-
torical importance, most of it useless, much untrustworthy, out of which
a history can be built by somebody else.
I am rather glad to find that McKee's and Caldwell's letters have not
been given before; I became somewhat panic struck when I found that por-
tions of the Haldimand mss were already in type.
It seems to me that the conquest of the Illinois by Clark is a good deal
like the conquest of most of New Mexico by Doniphan; and nobody talks
of the latter as a purely Missourian affair. If we had a war with Great Brit-
ain tomorrow and a Minnesota force overran Manitoba, it would neverthe-
less remain true that the territory would be gained for the United States —
that it could not be regarded as an appanage to Minnesota.
I am very much pleased at having made your acquaintance; really, until
202
now 1 have not known anyone who could discuss the subjects in which I am
interested, in their full bearing. Yours sincerely
265 • TO EDWIN LAWRENCE GODKIN Roosevelt
Washington, December 10, 1889
Dear Sir: 1 am obliged to you for giving me the chance to deny in the
most emphatic and explicit terms the statement you quote from the Chicago
Inter Ocean. The statement is as follows: —
"The term 'merit system' is a misnomer. It is the intelligence system. Merit,
properly speaking, pkys no part in the determination of the matter. On the con-
trary, no inquiry into the character, reputation, or antecedents of the applicant is
made. None would be tolerated. Even if Colonel Sexton should insist upon being
satisfied of the moral character of the applicant he would run counter to the law
as interpreted by the Commissioners, except that the statute specifically excludes
habitual drunkards. This is in clear violation of sound business principles. It may
well be doubted if the mere intelligence test can be safely continued year after
year. The excuse for it is that otherwise there would be a loophole for the require-
ment of political backing, but certainly there is something wrong in a system that
forbids inquiry on the first requisite of good service of any kind — character."
So far is this from being the truth that it is the direct reverse, for we
strongly favor the fullest inquiry as to an applicant's good character and
standing in the community. In the case of the departmental service, the
railway mail service, and the like, we make this inquiry ourselves, requiring
the candidate to submit vouchers from men of good standing who have per-
sonal knowledge of him. In the case of the local post offices and custom
houses we find it perfectly practicable to leave the inquiry to be made by
the appointing officer, a method that for obvious reasons would be extremely
difficult to follow at Washington. For instance, an applicant for the railway
mail service is required to accompany his papers with three vouchers signed
by respectable citizens who know him personally, testifying to the length
of time that they have known the applicant, if he has been in their employ-
ment and if so how long, what they know of his education and acquire-
ments, what they know about the condition of his health, what they know
about his being addicted to the use of intoxicating beverages, what they
can say as to his good moral character, and as to his being a person of good
repute; if they are aware of any circumstances tending to disqualify him
for the public service; and, finally, if they themselves would be willing to
trust him with employment requiring undoubted honesty, and if they would
recommend him for such employment to their own personal friends.
It will thus be seen that we require not only general but specific and
detailed testimony to an applicant's good moral character before permitting
him to be appointed in the departmental service at Washington or the rail-
way mail service. We do not require similar vouchers to be given when a
man applies for a position in a local post office or custom house, merely be-
203
cause we expect that when he is certified and comes up for appointment the
postmaster himself will make the inquiries. In the particular case referred to
by the Chicago Inter Ocean, that of Postmaster Sexton, I happen to know of
my own personal knowledge and observation that inquiries of this character
are made. When I was last in Chicago Mr. Sexton showed me the letters he
had received from various business men and others in response to his in-
quiries, made, as well as I now recollect, of the applicant himself, as to what
recommendations the latter could bring.
When three men are certified to any local postmaster for appointment
his first duty of course should be to find out if they are of good moral
character and standing in the community, and we impose no check what-
ever upon his doing this. So far from Colonel Sexton's running counter to
the law if he should insist on being satisfied of the moral character of the
applicant he would emphatically run counter to all our rulings as Commis-
sioners if he did not so satisfy himself. We even go so far as to hold that if
a postmaster having a certification of three eligibles before him is unable to
get any satisfactory testimony as to the character of those three eligibles,
he then is at liberty to reject all three and demand a new certification,
giving, of course, full reasons in writing for his action.
The statement that our system "forbids inquiry on the first requisite of
good service of any kind — character" is the direct reverse of what actually
obtains. We consider such an inquiry absolutely indispensible. Where the
circumstances would make it difficult for the appointing officer himself to
make it we have it made for him. Where circumstances render it easy for
the appointing officer himself to make it, as in the various city post offices,
whether of Chicago, New York, &c., we encourage in every way its being
made.
I thank you for having called my attention to the editorial. I shall at
once write to the Chicago Inter Ocean explaining that they have been under
a misapprehension as to the facts. Very truly yours
266 • TO J. G. UNDERWOOD RoOSCVelt
Washington, December u, 1889
Dear Sir: x I regret greatly to say that at present the civil service law gives
us no power to prevent dismissals. All we can do is to control appointments
and see that they are made according to the law. On your statement, you
have suffered much hardship, but it is not a case with which this Commis-
sion has legal power to deal. We are strictly limited by law to certain duties,
and we cannot go outside of these limits.
With much regret that I cannot be of assistance to you, I am — Very
sincerely yours
1 J. G. Underwood, examiner at the San Francisco Customs House.
204
267 'TO CHARLES FINGARD RoOS6Velt AdsS.
Washington, December n, 1889
Dear Sir: In adopting the rule that a man could not be reinstated without
examination after having been one year separated from the service, the Com-
mission knew that it must in certain cases inevitably work injustice. On
the whole however it works far less injustice than would a rule which per-
mitted each political party in turn to turn out all the clerks appointed during
the past four years and reinstate those who had been in the service before
the last administration went into power. We have carefully considered the
matter, and while we deeply sympathize with gentlemen who like your-
self have suffered an injustice in the past which we are powerless to remedy,
we yet feel that the rule we have adopted is the only wise and proper one.
The President thoroughly sympathizes with us in that view. Very truly
268 • TO WILLIAM H. MERVILLE RoOSevelt
Washington, December 19, 1889
Dear Sir: Owing to our utterly insufficient clerical force and the failure of
Congress to provide us with funds wherewith to pay enough clerks we are
much behind hand in marking the papers, in spite of all our efforts to do
the work promptly. It will probably be some little time yet before your
papers are reached. The marking is done all in order, and when your name's
time comes your papers will be marked and you will be immediately noti-
fied of the result. If you pass well I think you will probably stand a good
chance of appointment. Your military record will of course help you. Yours
very truly
269 • TO JAMES A. SEXTON Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, December 20, 1889
Dear Sir: * Of course I never for a moment supposed that you had any part
in the newspaper discussion of the civil service system. As you know, I con-
sider you decidedly one of our show "officers, and it gives me real pleasure
as a republican to point to the way the law has been administered in your
office. If you have any suggestions to make as to its workings, I shall be
more than glad to hear them. Any evils you may point out I will strive
to see remedied and I shall be really gratified if you with your practical ex-
perience will write me at any time telling me how you think the law is
working, and suggesting any improvements or alterations that you choose.
If you find that you cannot get good information as to the character of
the applicants, let us know, and give us any hints as to the changes you
would like to have made. If you think that our tests can in any way be
1 James A. Sexton, postmaster at Chicago.
205
made more practical, let us know that also, and point out the directions in
which they can be made. While I am in office I want this law to be rigidly
enforced without favor to any man, Republican or Democrat, and I want
it also to be made to work in as practical, common-sense manner as possible.
Thanking you for writing me, I am, Very truly yours
P.S. You can use this letter as you see fit.
270 • TO THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Roosevelt
Washington, December 21, 1889
Gentlemen: As supplementary to my late report on the Philadelphia Cus-
tom House I forward herewith a letter and accompanying document from
Collector Cooper, showing the removals and resignations made in the classi-
fied service by his predecessor, Collector Cadwalader. According to this
statement, during Collector Cadwalader's term of service one hundred and
twenty out of one hundred and fifty-two persons in the classified service
of the Philadelphia Custom House were removed or resigned. There were
also nine employes paid at the rate of $2.50 a day who were removed and
others appointed in their places at a compensation less than the classified
service limit. The same course was pursued in the case of thirty-three night
inspectors at $3 per day, for whom were substituted thirty-three Surveyor's
watchmen at $840 per year, also less than the classified service limit. Thus
during Collector Cadwalader's term of service, according to this statement,
the changes in the classified service amounted to nearly eighty per cent. This
is perilously near the clean sweep, of which there is always such danger
when considerations of partisan politics are allowed to control the appoint-
ing officer. It is of course perfectly possible that in this particular instance
so large a number of removals were made purely for the best interests of
the service, but the presumption in most cases of the sort is that political
considerations were among the controlling forces in bringing about the
removals. Thus in the Custom House at Boston, under the administration of
Collector Saltonstall, an avowed upholder of the civil service law as well
as an efficient business administrator of his office, only about a fifth of the
classified employes were removed during the four years; and on the face
of the matter there seems no good reason why in another office of the same
character it should have been necessary to remove or obtain the resigna-
tions of four-fifths.
This is only another instance emphasizing in my opinion the need that
in every case where a man is removed, full and complete reasons for his
removal should be assigned in writing. The turning out of clerks of the
lowest classified grade and replacing them by others at lower salaries em-
phasizes the point made in our last report, that the grades in the customs
service should be fixed by character of work and not by compensation. When
a $900 clerk is in the classified service, and an $840 clerk is not, the temp-
206
tation is very great to cut down the salary of the $900 clerk to the smaller
sum and then turn him out and replace him by a party ally. This is a very
evident and gross abuse. Apparently it obtained extensively in Philadelphia
during the administration of the last Collector, but I wish it understood that
I am not passing judgment on Mr. Cadwalader, for he is not under investi-
gation, and of course has had no chance to be heard in his own defence.
There has been a recent instance of the same sort, as the records of the
Commission show, at Port Huron. The frequency with which cases of this
kind occur seems to me to afford very strong reason for continuing to urge
a change in the methods of classification of clerks in the classified customs
service.
In conclusion, I would reiterate what I have already said in making my
report on the Baltimore post office. Officers cannot be held responsible for
having made a clean sweep in the past before any policy in the matter of
wholesale removals was formulated; but certainly in all cases that hereafter
may happen it ought to be distinctly understood that sweeping and whole-
sale removals should afford cause for demanding a full explanation of the
reasons why they were made; and unless such explanation can be given
fully and in detail the presumption should be that the removals were made
for political reasons and were therefore contrary to the law.
I have the honor to be, Very respectfully
271 -TO CHARLES JOSEPH BONAPARTE Bonaparte Mss.
Washington, December 21, 1889
My Dear Mr. Bonaparte: I see by the papers that there is some talk of send-
ing on a special committee from the Civil Service Reform Associations to
Washington to investigate the working of the civil service law. While
I think that such an investigation will do good if properly conducted I
strongly advise against beginning it for at least three or four months to come;
until April say, when the appropriation bill will probably have been passed.
During these three or four months the real fighting for the reform will
be done in Congress. There will be a vigorous effort made by our opponents
to starve us in the matter of appropriations, and possibly to pass partial or
complete repealing acts. The batde on our side will be strongly fought by
some of our staunch supporters among the Congressmen. The important
point now is to bend every effort to defeat hostile legislation in, and get
a good appropriation from, Congress, and not to complicate this issue with
others during the next few months. Moreover, a resolution to investigate
certain charges against the Commission was introduced into the House of
Representatives yesterday and it will probably pass. We earnestly court the
most rigid inquiry into our methods, and we hope the resolution will be
adopted. I very much fear, however, that action by your committee just
now would complicate matters. I write hurriedly, but after full consulta-
207
tion with my colleague, Governor Thompson, who heartily agrees with me
in what I have said. By all means postpone for the present the proposed
action by your committee.
I have sent similar letters to Messrs. Foulke, Dana and Rogers.1
Please treat this as confidential. Very sincerely yours
272-TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS
Washington, January 4, 1890
Darling Bye, I have been so sorry to hear how much you have suff erred
from this infernal "grippe." I think I have had a touch of it on and off my-
self; at least I have had a sore throat and headache, but nothing of any con-
sequence. We miss you and the children very much; Edith thinks my dress-
ing room amply large enough for you, and really wishes you as soon as you
can possibly come. Do come early in February, darling Bye.
Edie has had occasional fits of gloom; but the house is now getting to
look very homelike and comfortable, such a contrast to when I was alone
in it! I can hardly realize it is the same place; and I am thoroughly enjoying
the change. I think the children will like it; I am so relieved that Alicey is
better.
Edith has seen no one in the day time hitherto; but our evenings have
been fairly occupied. One night we dined at Cabots to meet the Willy
Endicotts; another night I gave a dinner to some historical friends; last
evening we went to the theatre, and a supper afterwards with John Hay.
It was to see "The Senator" which was really killingly funny. The Lodges,
Henry Adams and Dwight were along. Of course Hay was charming, as
he always is; and Edith enjoyed it all as much as I did.1
1 Sherman S. Rogers, Buffalo, New York, lawyer; Republican; prominent civil serv-
ice reformer.
1 During the jrears Roosevelt was on the Civil Service Commission he wrote many
letters to his sister Anna. In these he described his active, happy social life, filled, as
it was, with teas, dinners, walks, and rides. With acid pen he dismissed the not in-
considerable number of bores he discovered in his social rounds, but he described
with warm affection his delight in the large group of friends that surrounded him.
Chief among these were the Lodges, the Davises, the Winthrop Chanlers, Spring
Rice, von Sternberg, the Hays, the Whartons and, less intimately, Henry Adams.
In addition to these constant companions, there were authors, scientists, educators,
journalists, politicians, historians, big-game hunters from this country and Europe
who entertained and, in their turn were doubtless entertained by, the buoyant
Civil Service Commissioner. Only a few of these letters to his sister in which this
active life was described are included on the pages which follow. Mrs. Cowles in
Letters from Theodore Roosevelt to Anna. Roosevelt Cowles (New York, 1924)
prints, in abbreviated form, many of these letters for anyone who wishes to ex-
amine Roosevelt's personal life more carefully in this period. Copies of all the letters
Roosevelt sent his sister in these years are available in the Roosevelt Collection in
the Harvard College Library for those who wish to make an even fuller investi-
gation of Roosevelt's private life at this time.
208
By the way, the February MacMillans is to contain an article based on
my "Winning of the West"; it is rather a compliment.
I will be on about 5. p m. Wednsday. Your loving brother
2 7 3 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowIeS MSS.°
Washington, January 5, 1890
Darling Bye, Could you write to Brander Matthews or Dick Derby asking
him to tell you the names of some of the Committee on Admissions? Then
it would be a very good idea to have those you know to meet Rosy at
dinner. When do you sail? If towards the end of February how would it
suit you to have me come on about the i6th or zoth, to say good bye? and
will you not be down here for a day or two at least first?
I really enjoyed seeing Bob, and Ted fairly worshipped him, and clung
alternately to his legs and neck. Will you put the address on the enclosed
letter to Uncle Jimmie Bulloch: I have forgotten it; I enclose stamps.
Edith looked very pretty at the Blaines' and Mortons' x receptions, and
received much attention. We dined at the Lesters, the night before their
house was burned, to meet Minister Lincoln; he impresses me as a good
fellow, plain, straightforward, of some force and fair ability. Elaine, John
Hay, Sir Julien Pauncefoote2 and some others were there. Last evening we
had Rachel Sherman and Hatrie Elaine to tea; also Mrs. Sclater, Wharton,
Gregory, Baron Speck8 (your friend), Walter Van R. Berry4 &c. We had
asked Count Arco, who, thank Heaven, could not come. I am surprised such
a gourmand should wish to; but I am told he was very anxious to accept.
Our teas are so perfectly simple that I am a little inclined to wonder why
people come to them; I suppose they do criticize them; but they always
accept our invitations — and the company is generally good. Yours off
274 • TO CHARLES COLLINS Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, January 13, 1890
My Dear Mr. Collins, Many thanks for your kind letter, and for the interest
which you are taking in getting us a proper appropriation. In response, I send
aOne of the frequent receptions of Levi Parsons Morton, Vice-President of the
United States, 1889-1893; diplomat; Governor of New York, 1895-1897.
•Sir Julian Pauncefote, British Minister (later Ambassador) to the United States
who dealt with the questions arising from the Canadian seal-fishing negotiations in
1892, and the Venezuelan boundary dispute in 1895. He represented his country
in Washington during the Spanish-American War and negotiated two isthmian trea-
ties with John Hay, 1899-1902.
8 Baron Hermann Speck von Sternberg, German diplomat, became an intimate friend
of Roosevelt. The latter was instrumental in obtaining his appointment as ambas-
sador to the United States in 1903.
* Walter Van Rensselaer Berry, Washington lawyer, later judge of the International
Tribunal in Egypt, I9o&-i9ii.
209
you herewith a copy of our last report. In it you will find the plea for
the necessary additional appropriation. I also beg to call your attention to the
President's Message, wherein he strongly recommends that we be given the
additional money we ask for. The reason we ask for the additional money
is that our present clerical force is wholly insufficient to do the work en-
trusted to us. If Congress is against the law and wishes to repeal it, well
and good; but surely if we are to execute it we ought to be given the means
wherewith to do it. We are now three months behind in our work and
we are falling steadily more behind every week. As a consequence appli-
cants have their papers examined and marked only some three months after
they have passed the examinations. It is thus ninety days before they learn
whether they have failed or succeeded. This period of suspense is very
hard on them and very unjust to them. Again, it is getting to be impossible
for us to keep certain of the eligible registers full. In a very short while,
if our present stinted means are not increased, we will be unable to meet
the demands made upon us by the different governmental offices; and as
the Government can only get clerks through us, it will be seriously hampered
in its work. By great effort we have been able to supply railway mail clerks
so far when demanded, but this has been done at the cost of neglecting
other important branches which we will soon perforce have to take up.
We need, to do our present work, at least eight more clerks; to increase our
work as it should be increased we ought to have double our present force.
No department of the Government is run with such absolutely insufficient
means as is ours, and I may say also that no officers of corresponding rank
to that of the civil service commissioners are so insufficiently paid. This
is not a matter that affects me personally, but it surely, sooner or later, will
affect the Government by excluding from service as civil service commis-
sioners the men best fitted to do the work.
Thanking you for your courtesy in writing me, and requesting that
you will let me know if there is any additional information that I can give
you, I am, Very truly yours
275 • TO GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM N.YJIS.
Washington, January 13, 1890
Dear Haven: I never, never, never dreamed of writing a Life of Nelson, and
unless I was drunk or crazy I could not have told Bishop so. I wish you
would get him to send you on my letter. He must have misunderstood me
somehow or other. I think you are absolutely right about the western his-
tory. As I told you last winter, I was foolish enough to promise 18 months
ago Professor Freeman, of England, a volume on New York for his Historic-
210
Town Series, and that promise I shall have to keep. It has been weighing
over me like a nightmare for the past eighteen months, but I do not be-
lieve it will take much time when I can get down to it. Outside of this I shall
not go into any literary work excepting the Winning of the West. I have
already collected most of the material for my third and fourth volumes, and
have outlined the first few chapters. I realize perfectly that my chance of
making a permanent literary reputation depends on how I do this big work,
not on doing a lot of little booklets, and I need hardly say that I infinitely
prefer all my books to come from your press, and that you will always here-
after have first chance at any book I may write. I was led into the Free-
man matter in a moment of weakness, not at the time understanding the
consequences of my promise, and now I cannot honorably back out. I want
to ask you however about what you say as to magazine articles. The only
magazine articles I care to write are a couple of papers on civil service re-
form and some hunting articles for the Century. The civil service reform
pieces I regard as in the way of my present business. It is no pleasure to
me to write them, but I feel it more or less a duty to do so. The hunting
articles take up no time, for I do them in odd moments, when I am out
west, for instance, or now and then in the evening. Being merely narrative,
they are perfectly easy to do. They do not interfere in the slightest with
my work on the Winning of the West, whereas my history of New York
does very materially interfere. I wish you would write me a little at length
as to whether you think these hunting articles ought to be dropped too. If
you do, of course I will drop them after simply finishing the three or four
I have already partially completed. I wish to reiterate that my great work
to which I intend steadily to devote myself is the Winning of the West,
and that hereafter you shall always have the refusal of anything I do. Of
course you understand that while I am at work at this civil service Com-
mission business I cannot do very much, or very satisfactory, work on the
Winning of the West, whereas I can write off a magazine article without any
difficulty. For the Winning of the West I have got to have all my books
and papers around me and devote myself steadily to it. This winter, for
instance, I could not well work at it anyhow, even if I had not a line of
other work to write; moreover I must first visit and explore two or three
out-of-the-way places for documents I need.
I am delighted to hear that your health has improved so much. Do take
good care of yourself and take an ample holiday before coming back, and
you shall ride every variety of pony I have at Oyster Bay. Let me hear from
you in response to this letter. Best luck old man. Yours ever
[Handwritten] P.S. I half wish I was out of this Gvil Service Commission
work, for I can't do satisfactorily with the Winning of the West until I
am; but I suppose I really ought to stand by it for at least a couple of
years.
211
276 • TO JAMES M. WARNER Roosevelt
Washington, January 13, 1890
Dear Sir: * I have just received your courteous letter of the 9th. It is, I
presume, quite needless for me to say how well I am acquainted with you
by reputation. It would be impossible for a man to take an interest in pub-
lic life in New York and not be, and I am much pleased at your having
written me a personal letter; but I think that there is some misapprehension
about these local boards. It has been our custom to have many of the boards
with Democratic majorities. Indeed, we prefer doing it wherever it is pos-
sible, as a kind of guarantee of nonpartisanship in the administration of the
law. We have done it in a number of other offices, besides yours. I take it
for granted that it is not necessary for me to say that there was not the
slightest suspicion in our minds that any one would construe the action as
in any way a slight upon yourself. It is simply part of our general policy.
I am very sorry that any of our fellow Republicans at Albany should feel
dissatisfied over the action of the Commission, but I think the fault is wholly
theirs. We want to have the kw obeyed; and what is more, we want to
make it evident to outsiders that such is our intention, and this step was
one in the latter direction.
Trusting that you will write to me at once if I have failed to make any
point clear, or if there is anything else upon which you would like to ques-
tion me, I am, Very sincerely yours
277 • TO WILLIAM LYALL RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, January 13, 1890
My Dear Sir: We have no power to hinder the present or any other Collec-
tor making a removal for the same reason as that given by Collector Ma-
Gone.1 Collector MaGone had a perfect right to remove for the cause he
stated, although I do not myself think the cause a sufficient one; but this is
a matter of mere individual opinion on my part. I should not think the fact
of having red hair a sufficient cause for removal, but under the kw I could
not prevent a man removing a subordinate because he had red hair, having
nothing to do with removals unless they are clearly made for political rea-
sons. Personally, I think this portion of the kw stands in need of change,
but at present all we have to do is to administer it.
Regretting that I cannot see my way clear to doing as you wish, I am,
Very truly yours
1 James M. Warner, a warm supporter of civil service, had just been appointed post-
master at Albany. In this position he acted with resolution to enforce the Civil
Service Law.
1 Daniel MaGone, Democratic collector s of the port of New York, 1886-1889.
212
278 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MattheiVS MSS.Q
Washington, January 13, 1890
Dear Matthews, First; I have been doing all I could to get Lodge for you;
but I do'n't think he will come. He is not in the humour for much public
speaking at this moment; and he is especially unwilling to talk about elec-
tions in the south in view of the action on his bill in the Senate.1 He does
not feel that under the circumstances, he would make a speech that would
satisfy himself or you. What do you think of trying Murat Halstead in his
place? Halstead has always made rather a specialty of the southern situa-
tion, from an extreme anti-southern standpoint.
Next, I think you have written a really admirable article on the evolu-
tion of copyright; I wish that your different articles on the subject could
be bound into one volume.2 Our friends have injured their cause, in many
cases, by their curiously unintelligent deification of the English attitude on
the subject. The truth is that at present while France is civilised in her posi-
tion about copyright, the English are Barbarians, and we Americans down-
right savages. To me the worst practical effect of our conduct is the effect
it has in perpetuating our condition of literary servitude. Yours in haste
279 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MottheWS
Washington, February 10, 1890
Dear Matthews, You evidently touched friend Andrew on the raw; but I
wish your counter stroke had not been suppressed. I was looking forward
to it.
Work is progressing slowly but steadily on the "New York." It is about
a quarter through. I find that I have got to make it sketchy to get it into
the limits; and really so far I have done more rejecting than accepting ma-
terial. There is some original matter which I should like to use, but can't,
because it would make the book lopsided. Do'n't you find it harder to write
when you have to condense? I knew about Adam's "Chapter of Erie," * but
I am much obliged to you for the hints about Parton and the Mag. of Am.
Hist for '82. I am not altogether satisfied with my work on the book. I
have to do it at odd times, in the midst of the press of this civil service
business; and so I do'n't feel at all that I can do the subject justice.
Can't you get down here some time this winter? I would like you to
see some of our "men of action" in congress. They are not always polished,
but they are strong, and as a whole I think them pretty good fellows. I
swear by Tom Reed; and I tell you what, all copy right men ought to stand
1 The Senate had defeated Lodge's Force Bill.
* Matthews was a leading advocate of legislation to establish an international copy-
right system.
1 Charles Francis Adams, A Chapter of Erie (Boston, 1869).
213
by him. No one man can filibuster and beat a bill now. A house may do well
or ill; but at least it can do something under the new dispensation. Besides,
I am tired of flabbiness, and I am glad to see a Republican of virility, who
really does something! There is no great hardship in refusing to entertain
purely filibustering and dilatory motions and in counting a man as present
when he is present, even if he is at the moment howling out that he is
"constructively" absent.
Warm regards to Madame. Yrs. faithfully
28O ' TO RICHARD WATSON GILDER R.M.A.
Washington, March 30, 1890
My dear Gilder, Are you having Kit Carson's life, or a sketch thereof,
written? General Beall, here, has a mass of material, much of it valuable, but
needing careful sifting. Kit Carson and his comrades were men of real mark,
and their work was of the utmost consequence, and should not be allowed
to be forgotten.
Now for my next point. Cabot Lodge could write a first class article
on Civil Service Reform, from a new stand point. He has been my staunchest
ally in the fight for a year past, and is a man of note, and a rising one, in
his party. What do you think of getting such an article from him.
Finally; as soon as I can get any time — not until June I fear — I will
buckle down to the three hunting articles for bear, moose, panther, etc;
and I will bring in the "Turk" story. My bear scrape would I think make
a good picture, if you thought it worth while; also the death of the moun-
tain lion, and of the bull moose.
I do hope we get our copyright bill through. I am still up to my ears
in the Civil Service Reform fight. Tell Johnson how sorry I was to miss
him the other day. Yours in haste
28l-TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift MSS.°
Washington, April 9, 1890
My Dear Mr. Swift: — I inclose herewith a copy of so much of my recent
report as refers to Indianapolis. I wish you could show it to Messrs Buder1
and Fishback; I do'n't know their addresses. There is a dangerous bill that
has just passed the Senate, without opposition, giving preference to all honor-
ably discharged soldiers and sailors, whether of the civil war or since. On
certain lists I fear that this bill will mean that no civilians will be appointed
at all. However, by raising the grade of passing we can probably rule out the
more incompetent men. Remember me heartily to Airs. Swift. I enjoyed
greatly my lunch at your house. Yours sincerely
1 Noble C. Butler, an enlightened and disinterested member of die Indianapolis
local civil service board.
214
282 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS?
Washington, April 10, 1890
Darling Bye, Both Edie and I have missed you dreadfully. We have lapsed
into a quiet, vegetative life in the evenings; and I am trying to hurry up my
accursed history of New York city — how I regret ever having undertaken
it! The Investigating committee has still refrained from taking any decisive
step; I hope it will do so soon, and let us argue the case, and then decide
on it. It hampers us to have the case hanging on like this.
Lord Morpeth and Leif Jones turned up, and proved very inoffensive,
pleasant, information-seeking youths; they are not exciting but I rather liked
them. Young Maxwell took dinner with us, too. He is a good, fresh young
fellow, honest and manly — but oh how dreadfully common place, and
middle-class British dull! I hated myself for being so bored to extinction
by him. But there are very many honest people whom one sincerely respects
but can not associate with. I never can like, and never will like, to be in-
timate with that enormous proportion of sentient beings who are respectable
but dull. It is a waste of time. I will work with them, or for them; but for
pleasure and instruction I go elsewhere.
I have just been calling on the dear Ferghies; if Bob goes to Roanoke he
may turn up as a semi-permanent guest at Sagamore this summer.
I will be in New York on Wednsday afternoon for the B. & C. dinner.
Next morning I will try to see Pussie; and tell Douglass & Elliott, on Sun-
day night if you see them, that on Thursday at one I will lunch with them
if they wish; and I will be at Douglass' office at 1 2.
The children are just too dear for anything. With best love Your aff.
brother
283 -TO WILLIAM POTTS
Confidential Washington, April 14, 1890
Dear Mr. Potts: * The District Attorney has written me what I regard as a
very unsatisfactory letter, in which he refuses to advise or undertake the
prosecution of the custom-house men who were employed in collecting
political assessments.2 Personally, I fail to see how any lawyer can take the
position that these men have not violated the law; but of course I am only
a layman. I will be in New York next Wednesday morning and will call
at your office shortly before twelve. Could you not have Whitridge or some
other lawyer there to meet me? I have prepared brief extracts from the
evidence in the two strongest cases, and I would like to submit them to some
1 William Potts, secretary of the National Civil Service Reform League, the New
York Civil Service Reform Association, and the Brooklyn Civil Service Reform Asso-
ciation, 1881-1894, author of Evolution of Vegetal Life (Boston, 1889) and Evolu-
tion and Social Reform (Boston, 1890), and other books on various subjects.
*A full explanation of the facts in this case is given in No. 288.
215
kwyer to see if he does not think they warrant at least an indictment. I will
then also tell you about the status of the work generally here at present.
Yours sincerely
284 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Matthews MsS.Q
Washington, April 14, 1890
My dear Matthews, Well hit! I think you touched our friend Lang on the
raw. He is a good fellow, evidently; but as you said he is himself a funny
illustration of uneasy, sensitive irritation with american criticism. I think
the Saturday Review's comment on the "Queen of Sheba" was delicious; I
had never seen it before. Langs very list of ten English critics struck my un-
tutored sense as provincial.
But in view of the present temper of Congress towards copyright, a navy,
and indeed most things, I do'n't feel inclined to take too high a position.
I wish you would write a scathing article in the forum at the proper time
holding up by name the chief congressional foes of copyright to merited
ridicule. You could find rich reading in their speeches.
Remember me to Mrs Matthews Yours in great haste
285 • TO JOHN M. COMSTOCK R.M.A. MSS.°
Private Washington, April 25, 1890
My dear Mr Comstock? I write to see if your recollection of one or two of
the matters connected with the beginning of the New York custom house
investigation last spring coincides with mine.2
As I recollect both Col. Burt8 and you wrote me that you were on the
track of violations of the law by which applicants received knowledge about
the questions to be asked in examinations. You «mentioned», I think, a broker
named Young as being the man who had given you the information. I then
made an appointment — I believe through you but I can not now remember
exactly — to meet Young in your office. Accordingly I came on, and after
some preliminary talk with Col. Burt went into your office and saw Young.
He went away and in the afternoon — or at any rate at some subsequent
period, possibly the following morning — returned with various witnesses,
among others Jordan and Fowler. Young went out of the room, and I had
Fowler and Jordan write down their statements, or else put the statements
into writing, I forget which, and called in a notary public before whom they
made affidavits as to the truth of what they said. Before making their state-
1John M. Comstock, auditor at the New York City Customs House.
"In June 1889 the Civil Service Commission started an investigation of conditions
in the New York Customs House. Discovering that the examinations had been con-
ducted with "laxity, negligence, and fraud," it recommended that three employees
should be removed and one prosecuted for criminal violation of the law.
'Silas Wright Burt, Republican, civil service reformer, later civil service commis-
sioner of New York State, 1895-1900.
ments they asked me, in substance, if I would not see that they were pro-
tected, or were not molested, for testifying, and I told them I would do what
I could to protect them (at that time I thought Fowler as well as Jordan
in the public service). As I recollect it you were in the room, and within
ear shot, the whole time. It that so? and is your recollection substantially as
above? Sincerely yours
286 • TO ADOLPHUS WASHINGTON GREELY RoOSCVelt
Washington, May 3, 1890
My Dear General Greely: * I have just received your note and enclosure, and
it gives me great satisfaction to tell you that the facts you state show con-
clusively that there is no "screw loose" anywhere, as far as this Commission
is concerned. In the first place, about Miss Neyhart, she was transferred
from your office on the marking of 70, which you gave her and which
secured her transfer. If that marking was too high, it was of course not our
fault; you made the marking and we had nothing to do but to accept it.
There is no such thing as a morality mark, and ought not to be. If Miss
Neyhart's moral character was not such as to justify her transfer and pro-
motion, then it was not such as to justify her having been retained in our
office. If a clerk's moral character is bad she should be dismissed; but if it is
good enough to warrant her retention, it is good enough to warrant her
transfer and promotion. At any rate, it is a matter which should be laid be-
fore the Department to which she is transferred by the officer under whom
she was serving. It is nothing with which the Commission has anything to
do. You say it is astonishing that these clerks are able to get their appoint-
ments in such short times when there are so many names on the eligible lists;
but it gives me pleasure to tell you that there is no irregularity in the matter
whatever. Transfers when asked are granted at once, and have nothing what-
ever to do with the number of names on the eligible lists. The names you give
me are apparently those of men in the classified service in the Signal Office
transferred to other Departments. All that had to be done in such cases, and
all that ever is done in such cases, is to have the non-competitive examination
given where required, and the man then goes to his new place at once. There
is not and ought not to be any delay in the matter. The rapidity of the trans-
fers has no connection whatever with the number of names on the eligible
lists. The case you cite of a Mr. Henry, for instance, has no bearing of any
sort upon the transfers to which you allude. They were transferred from one
pkce to another. They were not certified up from the lists upon which Mr.
Henry stood at all; and whether they had or had not been transferred would
not have affected his case.
I am much obliged to you for your courtesy in having sent me the in-
formation, and I am glad to be able to show you that there has not been
the slightest irregularity of any kind or sort on the part of this Commission
1Adolphus Washington Greely, Chief Signal Officer, United States Army.
217
or any of its employes in any of the cases to which you refer. I would reiter-
ate what I have said about Miss Neyhart. The marking which you gave her
was sufficient to let her pass, and we had no right to inquire into your mark-
ing, and there is no such thing as a morality mark; that her morality would
have to be taken into account not by us but by you when you retained her
in the service and allowed her transfer to another Department. Very respect-
fully
287 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Matthews MSS.°
Washington, May 3, 1890
My dear Matthews, You may be sure I will let you knpw whenever I get on
to New York. I liked your memorial day article immensely by the way.
I feel humiliated as an American citizen over the defeat of the copyright
bill and the arguments by which it was brought about: I wish we could have
some stinging attack on the Congressmen who did it, naming their leaders;
and not pitching in to those who stood by us. Most of the leaders were for
it, except Mills of Texas. Carlisle and McKinley both supported it; Lodge
made the best speech in its favor, quoting your pamphlets, by the way, with
proper respect; Tom Reed has stood by us like a trump, and it was only
through him that we got the bill up at all. In great haste. Yours always
288 • TO WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON MILLER Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, May 6, 1890
Sir: 1 1 herewith respectfully enclose you a report concerning political assess-
ments in the New York customs district during the fall of 1888, made by me
in January last, a letter from the U. S. District Attorney for the Southern
District of New York giving his reasons for refusing to prosecute certain
individuals as recommended in that report, and an abstract of the testimony
against two of the chief offenders, Peter Rafferty and Thomas J. McGee.
For convenience, I have cut out and pasted on sheets of paper the testimony
of the three men who testified against McGee, together with my summary
of their testimony and also the testimony of three of the nine men who
testified against Peter Rafferty, with my conclusions in his case. On page i
of this abstract I have put at the end the section of the civil service law which
it is claimed these two men violated. A copy of the evidence and report has
already been laid before your Department through the President. We also,
following the usual custom in such cases, sent a copy with an official letter
to the District Attorney at New York City. As no action was taken upon
this report by him, I wrote to him twice on the subject and in response to my
second letter received the enclosed from him on April loth, in which he states
that, although the conduct of the parties complained of was highly improper
1 William Henry Harrison Miller, Indiana lawyer, United States Attorney General
tinder Harrison, 1889-1893.
2l8
and morally wrong, he is yet of the opinion that on the evidence presented a
conviction could not be obtained. As it had seemed to me that the evidence
was very strong, I laid copies of it before two New York lawyers connected
with the Civil Service Reform Association of that city, Messrs. F. W. Whit-
ridge and George Walton Green. Both answered in writing that they were
of the opinion that there had been a clear violation of the law, and that in
their opinion McGee and Rafferty could probably be convicted. I therefore
venture to call your attention specifically to the case.
McGee and Rafferty were employes of the custom house in the fall of
1888, and solicited contributions for campaign purposes on behalf of the
treasurer of the local Democratic organization from their fellow clerks. The
law forbids any employe of the United States from soliciting, directly or in-
directly, or from being concerned in soliciting, any contribution for any
political purpose whatever from any other employe of the United States (See
page i of the abstract). By referring to page 2 of the abstract it will be seen
that the witnesses Bertholf, Skidmore and Letzeiser testified that Rafferty
advised or solicited contributions from them, specifying the exact amounts
they were to pay, and practically threatening them if they did not pay; and
that he approached each of them on more than one occasion. If Rafferty's
conduct did not amount to indirect solicitation it seems to me it would be
hard to specify any conduct that does. The evidence of the witnesses El-
dridge, Hopkins and Hunter, who testified against McGee, is to be found
on pages 3 and 4 of the abstract. McGee came to these witnesses and advised
them to pay contributions to the Democratic campaign committee treasurer,
giving the treasurer's card at the time, and approaching them a second time if
they failed to respond to his first request. Again, it would seem clear that
McGee was at least indirectly engaged in soliciting contributions. Both he
and Rafferty were apparently endeavoring to keep just outside the pale of
the law, but it looks very much as if they had overstepped the line. It is
especially desirable now to break up this method of indirect assessment of
clerks and employes, and if, as we think, we have a good case against McGee
and Rafferty it would be a pity to have it fall through. With your permission
I will, at your convenience, come up personally to talk over the matter with
you.
I have the honor to be, With great respect
289 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, May, 1890
Dear Cabot, Can you stop at the office tomorrow on your way to the house
to see Governor Thompson? If not, let him know when and where he can
see you during the day. He wishes to see you about the report; as I am now
going away. It is very important that the present Commission be given an
absolutely clean bill of health by a majority of the Committee whatever a
1 Lodge, 1, 98.
219
minority do.2 1 don't want a compromise verdict, even to get all to sign. We
have done absolutely the straight thing throughout and the Committee is in
honor bound to do so too, and stand by us. Do see Greenhalge and Butter-
worth or Lehlbach.8 The Post has done all it can to hurt the reform; a verdict
against us is a verdict against the reform and against decency.
I wish the Boston Journal I sent you could be given to Halford or the
President. Yours
290 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT S*wif t MSS.
Washington, May 6, 1890
My Dear Mr. Swift: I enclose you slips taken from the Washington Star
giving part of my final argument before the investigating committee. They
do not give all of it I am sorry to say, but I shall see if I can't get hold of the
speech itself, which was all written out in advance, from some member of
the Committee, and send it to you in full later on. I go over the whole of the
charges point by point in so far as they affect the present Commission. I do
not think I leave a single point unanswered. Of course it was not my place
to deal with what the previous commission had done. I am not responsible
and do not intend to be held responsible for all of its acts. A funny feature of
the case was that Frank Hatton flinched like the cur he is on the last day. He
actually did not dare to come around to the committee room to hear our
arguments and made no attempt to present an argument himself. He had been
told beforehand that Governor Thompson and myself would handle him
without gloves, and he is even more of a coward than a bully. As soon as the
Committee reports, I am going to wade into Congressmen Grosvenor,1 Biggs2
•For the previous three months the Committee on Reform in the Civil Service had
been investigating "the charges of evasion and partiality which had been made against
the Civil Service Commission." These charges had been lodged against the commission
after Thompson and Roosevelt had made a report on the situation in the post office
of Milwaukee. Roosevelt was uneasy lest an unfavorable report would be used by
the House to curtail the appropriations for the Civil Service Commission, a fear that
was apparently warranted by the fact that Hatton served as prosecutor before the
committee. The committee report in June, however, signed by a majority, vindicated
the conduct of Roosevelt and Thompson.
8 Frederic Thomas Greenhalge, Republican congressman from Massachusetts, 1880-
1891, later Governor of the Commonwealth, 1894-1896; and Benjamin Butterworth,
Republican congressman from Ohio, 1879-1883, 1885-1891, later United States Com-
missioner of Patents, 1896-1898, were then members of the Committee on Reform in
the Civil Service. Herman Lehlbach, Republican congressman from New Jersey,
1885-1891, was chairman of the committee.
1 Charles Henry Grosvenor, Republican congressman from Ohio, 1885-1891, 1893-
1907. He was remarkable in Washington for his conservatism, his acid wit, and the
white beard that reached to his waist. He was a bitter opponent of civil service re-
form. On this occasion he and Roosevelt had appeared before the committee investi-
gating the work of the Civil Service Commission. Roosevelt, by quoting a series of
conflicting statements of Grosvenor on the subject of appointments, believed he had
demolished him.
'Marion Biggs, Democratic congressman from California, 1887-1891.
22O
and Cummings3 for deliberate misstatements of which they were guilty in
the civil service fight over the appropriation in the House. Very sincerely
yours
291 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed *
Washington, May 9, 1890
Dear Cabot, The enclosed is from the best paper in Ohio, the Cleveland
Leader.
I wonder whether the Philadelphia Press reference to the Dudley case was
not due to Wanamaker's connection with it? To me the proposition that it is
right to protect a government witness who is being persecuted for telling the
truth seems so self evident that it is with difficulty I can dismiss it patiently.
This Commission has been able to do effective work because we have waged
war on wrongdoers; and to do this effectively \ve must protect our witnesses.
To accomplish anything we had to be aggressive; and to be aggressive usually
implies taking punishment.
I saw the President yesterday and had a long talk with him; I will tell
you about it when we meet. The conclusion of the talk was rather colorless,
as usual. Heavens, how I like positive men!
Send back the enclosed slip; I want to keep it.
We had a very pleasant dinner at the Davises last night.2
I hope you and Nannie are enjoying yourselves.
The Times, by the way, has certainly treated you fairly about the Civil
Service debate — much better than the Tribune, on that point! Yours in
haste
292 • TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN Mahan MSS.°
Washington, May 12, 1890
My dear Captain Mahan, During the last two days I have spent half my time,
busy as I am, in reading your book;1 and that I found it interesting is shown
by the fact that having taken it up I have gone straight through and finished
it.
I can say with perfect sincerity that I think it very much the clearest and
most instructive general work of the kind with which I am acquainted. It is
a Amos Jay Cummings, Democratic congressman from New York, 1887-1902; a for-
mer editor of the New York Evening Szm.
1 Lodge, I, 98-99.
'Charles Henry Davis, naval officer and close friend of Roosevelt, was chief in-
telligence officer, 1889-1892; superintendent of the Naval Observatory, 1897-1902;
rear admiral, 1904, the son of a naval officer and the father of a naval officer. For 105
years there was a Charles Henry Davis on the Navy list. One of Davis' sisters married
Henry Cabot Lodge, another married Brooks Adams.
1 The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (Boston, 1890).
221
a very good book — admirable; and I am greatly in error if it does not be-
come a naval classic. It shows the faculty of grasping the meaning of events
and their relations to one another and of taking in the whole situation. I wish
the portions dealing with commerce destroying could be put in the hands of
some «one» of the friends of a navy, and that the whole book could be
placed where it could be read by the navy's foes, especially in congress. You
must read the two volumes of Henry Adams history dealing with the war of
1812 when they come out. He is a man of infinite research, and his ideas are
usually (with some very marked exceptions) excellent.
With sincere congratulations I am Very cordially yours
293 ' TO LYMAN COPELAND DRAPER RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, May 23, 1890
My Dear Sir: A man named Butterfield has recently published a Life of Simon
Girty. In it he makes some criticisms upon my Winning of the West, mostly
of a perfectly silly character. He however entirely discredits the story of
Girty's speech at Boonsborough and the answer made by young Aaron
Reynolds. In giving account of this I stated that I put it in because you told
me that the incidents had been related to you by several old men who had
themselves been in the fort. Butterfield asserts that you were evidently en-
tirely mistaken, or that the old men did not know what they were talking
about. I would be much obliged therefore if you would give me some data
to go by so that if necessary I may answer him. I mean the names of your
informants as well as what they said, and the sources of knowledge they had,
as taken down in your notes at the time. Any letter you write me I will either
quote entire, giving you the full credit for it, or make any other use of it
that you wish.
When is your Life of George Rogers Clarke coming out? It is a greatly
needed work, and I hope we shall soon see it. Very sincerely yours
294 • TO ADOLPHUS WASHINGTON GREELY RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, June 3, 1890
Dear Sir: Your letter of May ist, which I now have before me, was not
marked personal or confidential. The sentence in which you used the word
confidential apparently referred purely to Miss Neyhart's case. I do not care
in the least whether you consider this letter of mine as official or not. You
are a Government officer. In conversation with me on three or four different
occasions you made certain assertions or charges reflecting upon the honesty
of the system of examinations and transfers by this Commission. You also
222
made these statements to other people, for I heard of them several rimes from
outside sources. I therefore requested you to give me the facts in the cases
which would enable me to investigate and see if there was any wrongdoing.
It was your clear duty as a Government official, if you knew of any wrong-
doings, to let me have the information by which I could get at them; accord-
ingly I made the repeated requests of which you speak. I took it for granted
that you would not persistently make statements about alleged wrongdoing
and then hesitate to back your statements up. I am now writing you about
the official business of the Commission and of the Government. As I said be-
fore, I have no interest how you regard the communication.
You state that you regard my letter as a shifty kind of explanation. If you
will reread it you will see that it is nothing of the kind. It is as direct and
straightforward an answer to your letter as can be imagined, and is a state-
ment couched in the plainest language possible, showing that on your own
statement your accusations or innuendos have not even a basis in fact.
You say that Miss Neyhart's marking was 60 and not 70, and add, "This
indicates that whoever looked up this case for you did not take the pains to
inform you how the matter stood." Inasmuch as you were the person who
looked up the case and as you say in your letter now before me that you
marked her 70, and as I simply accepted your statement, this amounts to
the assertion that you yourself did not take the pains to inform me how the
matter stood. I have already explained to you in detail that the mark for
office habits does not include any morality mark, as you call it. If you
considered Miss Neyhart's office habits, especially concerning her conduct
towards male clerks, improper you ought not to have let her be transferred
at all, nor ought you to have permitted her to stay a day in your office. If
her habits were too improper to permit of her transfer and promotion they
were too improper to permit of her retention in office. We do not expect
ordinarily to have office habits marked so low as to prevent a transfer, for
the very simple and plain reason that such a mark would indicate that the
clerk had no business to be retained at all. You say you have spoken to the
Secretary of War about Miss Neyhart's promotion. That is an affair purely
between yourself and the Secretary of War. If she was morally fit to be re-
tained in your office she was morally fit to be promoted. If she was morally
not fit to be promoted, then she ought to have been dismissed from your
office, and you ought to have refused to allow the transfer.
You are entirely in error in saying that the men mentioned were not
transferred. They were. A ten-minutes' examination of the law and of the
facts connected with their transfer will convince you of this. They were
regularly transferred under Departmental Rule VIII. The method of making
transfers is to have the clerk resign in one office, pass an examination and be
transferred to another. There is not the least scandal or irregularity in allow-
ing a man who has passed an examination admitting him to one bureau or de-
partment afterwards to be transferred to another bureau or department. It is
"3
giving the public a perfectly fair deal, as you call it. If there has been any
scandal concerning these cases of which you speak it affects purely the heads
of the departments and bureaus concerned, and not the Civil Service Com-
mission. If the various men transferred were fit to be retained in your office
the presumption is that they were fit to be transferred. I did not notice the
case of Edie, because you explicitly stated that his name did not appear on
the list you sent me. From the information at hand here I find that Edie was
an old soldier, a preference claimant under the kw. We have no discretion
in giving veterans of Edie's class preference. That is a matter which the law
decides, and with which we cannot meddle. He passed an examination as
copyist, which, of course does not imply that the man has any great mathe-
matical knowledge. He was certified up to your Department, where, as is
alleged, he was put at rather difficult mathematical work, work of a kind for
which the copyist examination is not meant to test fitness. He proved unsatis-
factory to you and was dropped; but it seemed clear that he had been put
to work which the average man passing the copyist examination could not
perform. Nevertheless, all we did for him was to allow him to take another
examination, exactly as we allow any man in a similar case to take another
examination. On this new examination he passed, and under the law giving
preference to disabled veterans was again certified up, this time to another
Department, where he was appointed perfectly regularly. There was not a
shadow of irregularity in Edie's case. You are entirely in error in stating that
he was certified up as of high standing from the Civil Service Commission.
His standing on our books is but 77. It is a low, not a high, standing. The
whole trouble in his case arose from the fact that the law (section 1754 of
the Revised Statutes) forces the certification and appointment of disabled
veterans even when they do not come up to the standard of civilians. This
is a matter for Congress, the law-making power, to decide, and it does not
reflect in the least in any way upon the Civil Service Commission.
In conclusion you say that you think the civil service system has been a
decided injury to the Signal Office. You will pardon my saying that as all
the individual instances where the law is alleged to have worked badly which
you specifically enumerate prove to have no foundation whatever in fact,
I am not yet prepared to accept the statement you make of the general results
of the system. The cases of alleged wrongdoing to which you refer, includ-
ing Miss Neyhart's and Edie's, numbered just fourteen, as by the paper ac-
companying your first letter. It was concerning these fourteen that you said
that there was a screw loose somewhere. As I have shown you, there is not
a particle of ground for the assertion; that as far as this Commission is con-
cerned there is not the slightest irregularity in any one of these fourteen
cases. They are all perfectly regular and perfectly proper as far as we are
concerned.
I have the honor to be, Very respectfully yours
224
295 ' T0 LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT SlVlf t M.SS?
Washington, June i r, 1 890
Dear Mr Swift, Somehow or other you shall surely receive the very mild
portion of spoil you demand.
I have been compiling the figures for appointments and removals in the
classified service as far as we can get at them. In the Departments we can
get at them easily; outside of one division of the Pension bureau they have
averaged 6 or 8 per cent a year right along — a pretty good proof that the
law is properly observed. The post offices vary widely; in most of them there
is good cause for complaint, and must be, until we have our own examining
boards. As it is they only do well when the Postmaster believes in the law or
where there is a civil service association to help us. Yours in haste
296 ' TO ADOLPHUS WASHINGTON GREELY RoOS6Velt MSS.
Washington, June 21, 1890
Dear Sir: I never told you that your communication to me would be con-
fidential. I wished for some official information from you, and with infinite
labor succeeded in getting what you had. I care nothing whatever about
your appearing or not appearing before the Congressional committee as you
suggest. It is a matter for you, not for me, to decide. I shall certainly not ask
for your appearance myself, because I have no information leading me to
believe that there is anything for you to testify about concerning the ad-
ministration of the law. You have certainly failed to show a single irregu-
larity of the slightest kind in any of your communications to me. Yours truly
297 • TO HERMAN LEHLBACH RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, June 23, 1890
Dear Sir: In accordance with the suggestion of the Committee on June zoth
last, I herewith respectfully submit to you certain lines of inquiry which I
think it would be for the advantage of the service to have followed.
In the first place I would respectfully suggest that the Committee look
into the business administration of the Commission, and, for this purpose,
that the Committee hold one meeting in our rooms. We can then bring
before you all our employes. We can show you all our books and our
methods of doing business in actual operation. You can then see for your-
selves what these methods are, how the work is apportioned, whether it is
wisely apportioned or not, the system on which we proceed, the safeguards
we employ to prevent fraud or favoritism, and the like. We are just com-
pleting a number of investigations into the observance of the civil service law
in the Departments at Washington and in various local offices and custom
"5
houses during the past year, and, to a certain extent, during the terms of the
preceding incumbents. We will submit figures to you concerning the ap-
pointments and removals in the Departments, which go to show that in the
departmental service at Washington, aside from a small special division of
the Pension Bureau, the law is working satisfactorily, and is being, and has
been for the last half dozen years, observed with substantial integrity. Of
course there have been a number of individual instances where this state-
ment would not hold. On the other hand, in the local offices there exists the
widest variety in its observance, and in only a few is it as well observed as
at Washington. We do our best to prevent any evasion or violation of the
laws at the local offices, but it is wholly impossible under present circum-
stances to make matters in these offices as they should be. At Washington
we have matters largely under our own control; we are on the ground and
can see if the law is being violated. Our clerks are paid by us and are respon-
sible to us. They are not under the control of the appointing powers in the
various Departments. Even here, however, there should be one change. Our
whole force in Washington ought to be under our own control. At present,
while we have a force of clerks of our own to do certain work, most of the
marking of the examination papers and the conducting of examinations is
done by men detailed to us from other Departments. This of course often
works very badly. Some of the Departments are unable to give us the proper
details. Thus, nearly half of our work is done for the Post Office Depart-
ment, and we ought to have either four or five men detailed to us from that
Department, instead of which we have but one, and even all his time is not
allowed us. Often excellent men are detailed to us. When this is the case
these men are out of the line of promotion. They are no longer under the
eyes of the promoting officers, for of course we have nothing to do with the
matter. It therefore happens that they are again and again passed by and see
their comrades who were not detailed to us promoted over their heads. This
naturally produces discontent. Sometimes the Departments send us men who
are unfit longer to do their work properly. In the past we have, on several
occasions, been forced to send back such men, even when the Departments
would refuse to give us efficient substitutes in their places, as we found that
they were a positive detriment instead of a benefit to us. We should be given
a force of ten examiners, whose salaries should average at least $1600 apiece,
and these should be given to us outright. The matter could be arranged per-
fectly in the appropriation bill by simply cutting off from the rolls of the
different Departments the employes whom they do or should detail to us,
and adding them to our rolls.
In the local offices we have no such control as we have in Washington.
We do not have our own independent local boards paid by us and re-
sponsible to us. Instead, our local boards are composed of employes of the
post office or custom house, who receive no increase of salary for the work
they perform. We have no power over them whatever. We can of course
226
dismiss them from our boards, but such dismissal merely means that they are
relieved from arduous and disagreeable work for which they are not paid.
They have no responsibility to us. Some of them do their work well; others
pay no heed to it at all. A great many try to do it after a fashion, but are
obliged to neglect it for the sake of the regular post office or custom house
work. It is impossible, as the law now stands, to hold any of them to a real
accountability. Moreover, a bad postmaster or collector of customs can do
precisely as Postmaster Paul at Milwaukee did, and can make the local board
— the members of which are wholly dependent upon his good will for their
continuance in office — do what he pleases. This whole system must be radi-
cally changed before the law will work anything like as well in the local
offices as it does in the Departments at Washington. In the first place, all of
the examination papers should be sent on to Washington, where they should
be marked by one central board of examiners. We could do this if we were
given ten extra examiners at Washington. This would at once relieve the
local boards of the great mass of their work. We should then be allowed to
appoint on these local boards men outside the service if we wished, and we
should be given an appropriation sufficient to pay at least the secretary of the
board something adequate for his trouble and extra work. The boards would
then be in fact, and not merely in name, responsible to us and independent
of the appointing officer. Under the present law we are obliged to appoint
Government employes and cannot pay them for their arduous extra work.
How excellently the proposed change would work can be seen from the
good results that have followed its introduction in part at Indianapolis. There
two public-spirited citizens, Messrs. Fishback and Noble, who were in Gov-
ernment positions outside of the post office, were persuaded to accept posi-
tions on our post office board. Since their appointment there has not been a
breath of suspicion as to the action of the board, and there cannot be while
it contains men of such known independence and standing in the community.
In these local post offices at present the observance of the law depends
mainly upon the character of the postmaster and upon his friendliness to it;
and it is impossible for us to do more than to try to find out now and then,
with very inadequate means, whether the law is or is not being observed. A
glance at the removals and appointments in these offices shows an utter con-
trast to what obtains in the Departments at Washington; whereas in the
Departments they do not average ten per cent a year, in the local offices they
often come up as high as fifty per cent or more. At present we are given
adequate means to enforce the law only in Washington. Here the result is
satisfactory. We are given almost no means at all wherewith to enforce it
outside of Washington, and as a consequence the result is very unsatisfactory
in many localities.
Again, I would respectfully suggest that your Committee investigate the
character of the questions asked in our examinations. We are continually
endeavoring to make these questions more and more practical in their nature.
227
We will furnish you complete sets of examination papers given to applicants
for positions as Patent Office examiner, stenographer, copyist, clerk, letter
carrier, and the like, in order that you may make what comment you please
upon them. We are continually striving to get competent advice as to mak-
ing these examinations better and more practical tests of the qualifications
sought, and we will welcome gladly any assistance we may receive in this
way from any source.
Again, there is some complaint that occasionally applicants put themselves
down as being residents of states to which they really do not belong. This
difficulty does not generally exist, but it undoubtedly does occur in certain
cases. The trouble lies, however, not so much with the rules of the Commis-
sion as with the kw of domicile. This varies greatly in the different states,
and it is almost impossible to get a satisfactory way of construing it for all.
We require an applicant to make an affidavit that he is the resident of a
certain state and support his affidavit by vouchers from three reputable
citizens of that state. If any one will point out any people on our eligible
lasts or in the Departments who have sworn falsely in their affidavits and
are not residents of the states they claim to be they will be dropped at once
from the rolls and can be prosecuted for their offense. Any information
about any such case will be most gratefully received by the Commission; but
of course it must be specific to be of any value; a general statement amounts
to nothing.
I would also respectfully suggest that the Committee investigate the
conditions of our eligible lists. They will see that whereas there are certain
states that have no surplussage of eligibles whatever, and though there are
certain lists on which there is no surplussage of eligibles from any state, yet,
that there are certain states which on certain lists have an immense number
of eligibles beyond what the needs of the service require. We will be gkd
to submit to the Committee the steps we have taken to remedy this state of
things in so far as possible, as well as the reasons why under the kw we are
unable to do more than we have done.
This letter is written with the knowledge and approval of my two col-
leagues. There may be other points to which I should like later on to call
your attention; but I will not take up further time now, as I have just re-
ceived your letter requesting me to forward this to you at once. Very
respectfully
298 • TO RICHARD WATSON GILDER Roosevelt
Washington, July 18, 1890
My Dear Mr. Gilder: I will have my editorial on Gvil Service Reform ready
for you in three or four days. I will send it on written with my usual kwless
freedom, though I shall by severe effort restrain myself from taking the
scalps of about a dozen congressmen, who sadly need to have it done. If you
228
still think it a little too bloody-minded I know you well enough to know
that you will write me back at once pointing out the parts you deem ob-
jectionable, and, as you know, I always regard with stoical calm the mutila-
tion of my bantlings. Yours in haste
299 • TO HORACE ELISHA SCUDDER HoUghtOH Mlfflm M.SS.
Washington, July 24, 1890
My Dear Sir: I send herewith the Review of Mahan's Sea Power, which Mr.
Aldrich requested me (at my suggestion) to write. I do not know whether
the change of editorship will work any difference in your desire to have
this article or not.1 Of course if you do not wish it simply send it back to me.
Very truly yours
300 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MattheWS MSS.Q
Oyster Bay, August 3, 1890
My dear Matthews, It was really kind of you to write me; it showed an in-
terest in my very commonplace little book which I need not say I thoroughly
appreciate.
I understand fully the force of your suggestion. The trouble is that if I
make the chapter dealing with New York in the present — that is, for the
past 40 years or there abouts — full in one respect, I must make it full in all,
or have it asymetrical. I would much rather write a long, full essay on these
forty years than on the two hundred and forty proceeding them; but I do
not care to do so unless I write the whole truth, accordingly as I see it; and
to do this would make the piece controversial in parts, and in other parts
a statement of the reasons why I hold to certain beliefs. For instance, if I
go into our development in charities etc. I would like also to go a little at
length into our political condition; and you can readily perceive the diffi-
culty in the way here.
Again, as to our being a literary centre. To me the clubs are only impor-
tant by what they produce; and I wish to wait and see what they produce.
Is it going to be only Saltus1 or Fawcett? I would have to go into personali-
ties if I touched on this. For instance I consider yourself and Stedman2 and
1 Horace Elisha Scudder had just succeeded Thomas Bailey Aldrich as editor of the
Atlantic Monthly. He was the author of children's books and genial essays, and a
reverent biographer of the American great.
1 Edgar Evertson Saltus, energetic author of rather melodramatic satire on the New
York social scene. His titles, suggestive of his style and time, include The Truth
about Tristram Varick (New York, 1888), A Transaction in Hearts (New York,
1889), and The Pace That Kills (New York, 1889).
•Edmund Clarence Stedman, anthologist, critic, minor poet, a founder of the
Authors' Club. His poetry was derivative; his literary criticism was inhibited by his
zeal to uphold the contemporary moral tone; but his influence was great upon the
New York literary world by virtue of his genuine love for literature and his
personal charm.
Howells and the Century, Scribners and Harpers much more important in
determining New Yorks place in letters than the Authors, the Players, the
Grolier etc.
Nevertheless I think I shall add some pages on the lines you suggest.
Again thanking you heartily and with warm regards to Mrs. Matthews, I
am Very cordially yours
301 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed'1
Washington, August 23, 1890
Dear Cabot, From all I can glean in the papers you did well in Maine, and
I congratulate you. But I really regret much that you were not here while
Bryce was. It was only for two days, but I contrived to let him see a good
deal in that time. Each morning I breakfasted alone with him and his wife
— a bright, pleasant woman. One day we lunched in the Speaker's room,
with the Hitts; the next day he lunched with John Andrew to meet a num-
ber of the House Democrats — including Rogers and others of the ilk. One
evening the Hitts gave them a dinner, asking among others Ingalls, Carlisle,
Gibson, Wheeler, Bingham and Adams — mixed.
The next night I had Bryce to dinner of representative Republicans —
Hoar, Hawley, Saunders, Jones of Nevada, who is the most amusing story-
teller I ever met, Reed, McKinley, Butterworth, Cannon,2 Hitt and Mc-
Kenna of California. They are an able set of men, and Bryce thoroughly
appreciated them. He grasped at once the distinction between these men
who do things, and the others who only think or talk about how they ought
to be done. I think his visit here will be a needed anti-septic; for he now
goes to visit Godkin and Eliot! He ended his letter of thanks, when he left,
UI won't let myself be captured by excessive mugwumpery after your
warnings." So you see I did good missionary work.
I hate to leave my work here now. The P. M. G. has refused us any
detail of clerks and it is almost — indeed quite — impossible to get the
papers marked for the new places without them; so we shall fall behind,
and there will be a row which I hate to leave Lyman to face.8 Oh, Heaven,
if the President had a little backbone, and if the Senators did not have flan-
nel legs!
1 Lodge, I, 100-101.
1 Joseph Gumey Cannon, then serving his ninth term in Congress.
8 Much of the clerical work performed for the Civil Service Commission was done
by clerks detailed on temporary duty from other departments. The other depart-
ments, not unnaturally, detailed their least competent clerical assistants. Upon occa-
sion, these assistants would be refused by the Civil Service Commission. This, again
not unnaturally, was irritating to the departments in question, and at least in two
cases they refused to send any further clerical assistance to the commission. This is
a more important point than it may seem, since so much of the work of the commis-
sion was record-keeping. For twenty-five years it remained a persistent irritation.
230
Write me to O. B.
Love to Nannie. Yours
302 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Oyster Bay, August 27, 1890
Dear Cabot, I have sent your letter to Bryce; I do hope he is not engaged
already, and can visit you. He is a man of such good common sense that I
do not wish him to see only the mugwumps here; I wish him really to under-
stand American life. I think he really enjoyed and understood what he saw
at Washington.
Clapp of the Journal is a trump; I am really touched by the way he has
stood by me this winter. By the way did you see that poor Walter Howe
was drowned. He was a disinterested and upright public servant, and one of
the most useful citizens New York had. I greatly regret his loss.
I told the Longmans Green people that you would probably have the
"Boston" for them about the beginning of December. Get the cursed thing
off your hands.
I did not leave enough of Grosvenor to be put in a coal scuttle. Before
I was half way through he took refuge in what he called his "constitutional
right" not to be questioned elsewhere for what he had said in the House.
The Committee fairly screamed with laughter.
You have evidently done well in Maine. Yours ever
303 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Medora, Dakota, September 23, 1890
Dear Cabot, I have just reached here, our party having separated after a
really lovely two weeks in the Yellowstone Park. The scenery is certainly
most wonderful and beautiful, and we all enjoyed it to the full.
Almost the first person I saw on getting here was Bay, rugged, hearty
and healthy; he had killed three antelope, and had not had his clothes off
since I left; so he is thoroughly happy.
The Governor has just sent me a copy of Grosvenor's attack on me in
my absence. He is a liar and a coward, and as soon as I get back I shall write
him an open letter telling him so.
I enclose a letter from Jas. R. Gilmore (Edmund Kirke) and my answer;
it relates to the new cyclopedia. I am surprised at his writing me on any
subject, after our correspondence in the Sun; and I hardly think I care to
answer him. Don't you think it best to leave it unanswered? If so, destroy
my letter; otherwise send it back to me.
1 Lodge, 1, 101-102.
1 Lodge, 1, 102.
I wired Reed a line of congratulation on his victory. Maine has done
gloriously. Your speech was really admirable; I think it the best you have
ever done. The touch about the Post was delicious. I do wish I could take
part in the campaign this year.
Show Nannie this about Bay. Yours ever
304 ' TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Medora, Dakota, September 23, 1890
Dear Cabot, Just after writing you my letter, five minutes ago, the mail
came in with yours of the ipth, and the paper containing Greenhalge's
speech and the platform. Both of them are admirable. Massachusetts is cer-
tainly well to the front. Heavens, how I wish we could win this year! The
great point is, shall our Congress legislate or not — shall our Congress be
a real legislative body, or an assembly on the Polish order. This is even a
more important question than that of any particular piece of legislation, vital
though the latter may be. I would give a great deal to be allowed to make
just one speech about it. I see that Kilgore,2 Cummings and others violently
forced their way out the other day; I think it very unfortunate they are
not fined as least five hundred dollars a head.
I think I shall have to skin Grosvenor again.
To my amusement Bay's hunter, an old Buffalo hunter named Mason,
turns out to be an intense Republican and warm admirer of yours; a very
staunch supporter of the election bill. He is a really intelligent old fellow.
Bay likes him; is enjoying himself thoroughly, and is growing continually
more hardy.
Thank you greatly for what you did in the Grosvenor matter. Yours
ever
305 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Elkhorn Ranch, Dakota, October 4, 1890
Dear Cabot, I was very glad indeed to get your letter. I shall adopt your
advice about Gilmore and send him a letter modelled i la John Hay and
yourself. I guess you're right about Grosvenor, too; nothing that he can
say behind my back can alter the fact that he ran away when brought to
face me.
I am very anxious to talk over politics with you. I think I'll have to give
1 Lodge, 1, 103.
1 Constantino Buckley Kilgore, a Democratic congressman from Texas, achieved
momentary distinction in 1890 by kicking down the door of the House when Reed
attempted to maintain a quorum by locking the door. Apparently Kilgore was fol-
lowed by Amos Jay Cummings, Tammany congressman from New York City.
1 Lodge, I, 103-104.
232
the Bennett law a boost in Wisconsin2 — it will probably prove fatal to it,
but one of the reporters who was last year in Washington, a very good
fellow, is now editing a paper out there and wants me to write him a piece,
which I can do without trenching on politics proper.
Bay is in excellent health, hardy and stout; I think I may say he is enjoy-
ing himself thoroughly. He has recently killed a blacktail doe, and a number
of ducks; and was up all night with us fighting a prairie fire — a less simple
operation than it sounds. We shall start home about a week hence. Ever
yours
3 05 A • TO GERTRUDE ELIZABETH TYLER CAROW Derby MsS.Q
Washington, October 18, 1890
My dear Mrs. Caro*w,1 I have rarely seen Edith enjoy anything more than
she did the six days at my ranch, and the trip through the Yellowstone Park;
and she looks just as well and young and pretty and happy as she did four
years ago when I married her — indeed I sometimes almost think she looks
if possible even sweeter and prettier, and she is as healthy as possible, and
so young looking and slender to be the mother of those two sturdy little
scamps, Ted and Kermit. We have had a lovely year, though we have
minded being away from Sagamore so much; but we gready enjoyed our
winter at Washington, and our months trip out west was the crowning
touch of all. Edith particularly enjoyed the riding at the ranch, where she
had an excellent little horse, named wire fence, and the strange, wild, beauti-
ful scenery, and the loneliness and freedom of the life fascinated and ap-
pealed to her as it did to me. Did she write to you that I shot a deer once
while we were riding together? Are not you and Emily coming over here
next summer? It will be over two years since you have seen Edith; and
Kermit will be older than Ted was when you left. Of course I do not know
what your plans are, nor how you find it necessary to shape them; but I
should think that any extra expense entailed by the voyage over and back
would be made up by the fact that you would (have) be at Sagamore pretty
much all the time you were (over) here. Edith does want to see you both
very much. If there are two ponies here she and Emily could ride together
while I was away.
The children are darlings. Alice has grown more and more affectionate,
and is devoted to, and worshipped by, both the boys; Kermie holds out his
little arms to her whenever she comes near, and she really takes care of him
like a little mother. Ted eyes him with some suspicion; and when I take the
•The Bennett Law, passed by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1889, prohibited employ-
ment of children under thirteen and required all children from seven to fourteen to
attend school. "School" was defined in terms which offended both Lutherans and
Catholics, a fact quickly noticed and exploited by the Democrats in the 1890 election.
1 Mother of Edith Carow Roosevelt.
233
wee fellow up in my arms Ted clings tightly to one of my legs, so that I
can hardly walk. Kermie crawls with the utmost rapidity; and when he is
getting towards some forbidden spot and we call to him to stop Ted always
joins in officiously and overtaking the small yellow-haired wanderer seizes
him with his chubby hands round the neck and trys to drag him back —
while the enraged Kermie endeavours in vain to retaliate. Kermie is a darling
little fellow, so soft and sweet. As for blessed Ted he is just as much of a
comfort as he ever was. I think he really loves me, and when I come back
after an absence he greets me with wild enthusiasm, due however, I fear, in
great part to knowledge that I am sure to have a large paper bundle of toys
— which produces the query of "Fats in de bag," while he dances like an ex-
pectant little bear. When I come in to afternoon tea he and Alice sidle hastily
round to my chair, knowing that I will surreptitiously give them all the icing
off the cake, if I can get Edith's attention attracted elsewhere; and every
evening I have a wild romp with them, usually assuming the r61e of "a very
big bear" while they are either little bears, or "a raccoon and a badger,
papa." Ted has a most warm, tender, loving little heart; but I think he is a
manly little fellow too. In fact I take the utmost possible enjoyment out of
my three children; and so does Edith.
I really enjoy my work as Civil Service Commissionner; but of course
it has broken up all my literary work. Faithfully yours
306 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, October 22, 1890
Dear Cabot, Just after sending you my note yesterday I received your letter
enclosed in one from Edith. It contained just what I wished to hear about
you. Of course take just as much care as if Everett2 were a formidable foe;
but I can not help believing you will even increase your majority against
him. Your reception in Music Hall must indeed have pleased you.
Foulke is here. He is going to pitch into Wanamaker strong in a few days
— my withers are unwrung. Foulke is a very good fellow. I find he is with
us on the election bill; and I will relate to you an amusing dialogue he had
with one of your opponents in Boston, in which, to the unspeakable horror
of the mugwump, he admitted that you had faults, but called on your foe,
as an honest man, to admit that Cleveland's were much worse, and his good
qualities less conspicuous. Foulke also thinks Reed all sound. He is weak on
the McKinley bill — but I can easily forgive him that. If I can get my article
on the Bennett law I'll send it to you.
Here things are much as usual. I had a very short and cold interview with
1 Lodge, 1, 104.
* William Everett, a Massachusetts Mugwump, son of Edward Everett, headmaster of
Adams Academy in Quincy. His vigorous campaign against Lodge in 1890, although
unsuccessful, whittled down Lodge's plurality to about 1000 votes.
234
the President. His one anxiety is not to have anything [to do] with us or
the Civil Service Law.
Love to Nannie. Yours
307-70 RUFUS R. DAWES Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, October 24, 1890
Dear Sir:1 Mr. Lodge has sent me your letter of October i6th with the
request that I answer it. It gives me great pleasure to do so. You say that
you had seven persons appointed in the Pension Office some years ago, giv-
ing their names, one of them being now dead, the other six still alive and in
the service; and you state that their record is very high, and probably above
the average of men selected through civil service tests. In closing your very
courteous letter you state that you have no object beyond raising a practical
test as to the comparative success of the two systems of appointment in
securing suitable and desirable persons for the public service.
In the first place, no better proof could be desired of the great superior-
ity of the new system of appointing and retaining men than the very facts
you set forth. According to your statement your six capable friends who
were appointed under a Republican administration have been retained dur-
ing the Democratic administration which succeeded it, and are now in office
under the Republican administration which has in turn succeeded the Demo-
cratic. Under the old system, which you seemingly advocate, every one of
these men would have been turned out and their places filled by others who
were the friends or followers or henchmen of some political leader of the
opposite party. In the next place, I am of course unable to answer as to how
the record of these men compare with the record of men appointed under
our system. They must be good men or they would not have been retained
so long, I presume. Doubtless there are plenty of Congressmen and other
gentlemen of political influence who in making recommendations have in
view solely the good of the public service, but there is quite as little doubt
that there are many others who entirely subordinate this end to that provid-
ing for their own political adherents. Of course nothing would be gained
by comparing half a dozen peculiarly good men, as doubtless those recom-
mended by gentlemen like yourself are, with the average of those supplied
by the other system; although even in this case I should not be willing to
accede to your proposition until it had been proved. The experience of the
average disinterested officer who has had much to do with making appoint-
ments under both systems is almost invariably in our favor. Most of the
heads of departments or of bureaus or large offices, with two or three marked
exceptions, have testified to us that they consider the new system to be a
marked improvement on the old. My own experience in this office and what
I have seen in Washington for the past year and a half satisfies me that the
1 General Rufus R. Dawes, father of Charles Gates Dawes and Rufus Cuder Dawes.
average of the men appointed under our system is considerably higher than
the average of men appointed under the old method. Moreover, it must be
remembered that our object is to take the civil service out of politics quite
as much as to better it, and we regard it as an immeasurable gain to public
life when we can make political contests be fought and decided on public
questions purely, and not be mixed up with undignified scrambles for patron-
age. I am a staunch Republican, and I think Republican success at the pres-
ent moment is more in danger by squabbles due to discontent over political
patronage than for any other reason. Very respectfully yours
308 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, November 10, 1890
Dear Cabot, I have felt too down hearted over the election to write you
since; and besides there seemed really nothing to say. Well, at any rate you
showed yourself stronger than your party by running ahead of your ticket,
as far as I can judge by the return. The overwhelming nature of the disaster
is due entirely to the McKinley bill; as you know I never liked that measure.
There were some other features of the election which I wish to discuss with
you; especially some insight I got during the last two months into the way
things were looked at at home.
The Democratic majority will run wild; and Andrew, Hoar & Co. will
have a fine time keeping pace with the capers of the Alliance men of the
West and Southwest.
Now, finish your "Boston" and get it off your hands; and let me know
the day and train you arrive.
Love to Nannie. Yours
309 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.°
Washington, February i, 1891
Darling Bye, I have just sent a letter to Mrs Ferguson to your care, because
I did not know where else to send it; can you forward it? My dearest sister,
Edith and I have thought of you so much and genuinely wish we could be
with you, for we know what a terrible trial you have to go through; but I
will not speak more of this; for as it has to be done, why may all good for-
tune guard you and attend you, dearest sister.
We have been going out a good deal during the last week. One evening
we dined at the Vice Presidents; another at the Andrews — John Andrews
being a good respectable congressman of the average British m. p. type; and
then again we dined at the Riggs, to meet the John Hays and Jimmie Wads-
worths — the latter being another thoroughly respectable, unimportant con-
gressman of the British m. p. variety.
1 Lodge, 1, 106.
23$
My pleasantest dinner was one in Baltimore at Charles Bonaparte's, to
meet Cardinal Gibbons.1 The latter was very entertaining; the cultivated
Jesuit, with rather kindly emotions, and a thorough knowledge of the fact
that his church must become both Republicanized and Americanized to re-
tain its hold here.
I have been continuing my civil service fight, battling with everybody
from Ingalls to Wannamaker and Porter; the little gray man in the White
House looking on with cold and hesitating disapproval, but not seeing how
he can interfere.
I am very glad to have been in this position; I think I have done good
work, and a man ought to show that he can go out into the world and hold
his own with other men; but I shall be glad when I get back to live at Saga-
more and can devote myself to one definite piece of work. We Americans
are prone to divide our efforts too much. Yours ever
3 I O • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CO'WleS M.SS*
Washington, February 8, 1891
Darling Bye: Last week was not very eventful. We had several invitations
to dances, none of which we accepted, and confined our going out to one
evening at the theatre and another at a dinner. At the dinner I met dear,
good Sir Julian Pauncefoote, who had just been victimized by a shrewd
rascal of a reporter, thanks to his own slow wittedness. It was not a serious
"break" however, and has not created more than a ripple here, although
apparently taken much more seriously in London.
The fight in Congress is now chiefly over free silver, and is being waged
mainly on party lines, the Republicans standing up stoutly for honest money.
The situation gives the mugwumps pain, even the most besotted of them.
I am not as easily roused to wrath as I used to be; but I still retain a feeling
of profound anger and contempt alike for the malicious impracticable vision-
aries of the N. Y. Nation type on the one hand, and for the vicious and cyni-
cal professional politicians of the Ingalls, Hill and Gorman stamp on the
other.
There will soon be another battle over Civil Service Reform in the
House.
1 James Cardinal Gibbons, for a third of a century the pre-eminent Catholic prelate
in the United States, by his exemplary career promoted tolerance and understanding
among Americans of afi faiths. A patriot, he once remarked that "God and our coun-
try" should be the watchword for all citizens. His opposition to the Cahensly move-
ment for the selection of Catholic bishops on the basis of the size of groups of immi-
grants of various national origins was a determining factor in its defeat. Respected
alike in Rome and Washington, the Cardinal administered his office with tact and a
nice recognition of the distinction between church and state. In 1911 Roosevelt de-
clared that Gibbons embodied the highest and best in American citizenship.
237
The children are sweeter than ever; Alice and Ted talk of you all the
time. Your loving brother
3 1 1 • TO JOSEPH GILBERT THORP, JR. National Archives
Washington, February 9, 1891
Dear Mr. Thorp,1 Many thanks for the copy of the resolutions you have
sent the President.2 We wish to agitate for the extension of the service in
the direction named, particularly at present, and I am very glad you have
taken the action of sending on your resolution. I believe Commissioner Mor-
gan8 favors classifying his bureau. Personally, however, I think that there
ought to be some peculiar modifications of the law when we deal with the
Indian department; for instance, I warmly favor employing the Indians
themselves wherever possible in agency work. I should take the civilized
members of the different tribes and put them to work in instructing their
fellows in farming, blacksmithing, and the like, and should extend the pres-
ent system of paid Indian judges and police. As for the outlook I simply am
unable to tell you. I send you herewith a copy of our last report. Very tndy
yours
3 1 2 • TO WILLIAM POTTS Printed x
Washington, February 13, 1891
My dear Potts: I do not think I can possibly get on for the i9th. I have got
to speak in New Haven anyhow on the iSth, which I bitterly regret, for
in the present crisis I do not want to be away from Washington. We are in
danger of being starved by having our entire appropriation cut off.2 I do
wish that our Massachusetts men would attend with proper severity to
Congressmen Cogswell, O'Neil, and Walker.
1 Joseph Gilbert Thorp, Jr., a member of the executive committee of the Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts, Civil Service Reform Association.
8 The resolutions called for the extension of civil service rules to include all officers
employed in the Indian Bureau. Civil service reformers and humanitarians throughout
the country held that recent outbreaks among the Sioux afforded convincing evidence
for the need of that change. They blamed Secretary of the Interior Noble and the
Indian Commissioner for the political jobbery and the lack of food and medicine that
had caused disturbances in the Dakotas. President Harrison, while denying that
conditions in the Indian Service were bad, nevertheless extended civil service rules to
cover the Indian School Service and agency physicians, an order affecting about seven
hundred places.
•Thomas Jefferson Morgan, United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1889-1893.
1 Lodge, 1, 107.
•Grosvenor continued his conflict with Roosevelt by attacking, on February 12, the
appropriation for the Civil Service Commission. Specifically, he hoped to withhold
money for ten new clerks. A debate of two days, led for the opposition by Gros-
venor and Cannon and for the supporters of the commission by Lodge and Dingley,
was carried on with much heat and recrimination. A compromise amendment pro-
viding funds was finally passed.
238
In great haste, Yours sincerely
P.S. Thanks to the magnificent pluck and leadership of Lodge, McComas
and Butterworth, the cleverness of Dingley, the fight has been won since the
above was written. Boatner, and Dockery and Clements, Democrats, aided
in a subordinate way. The Tribune and Times have had equally unjust and
partisan accounts of the matter. I do wish our Association would take strong
ground for the gentlemen named above and also for Moore of N. H., Lehl-
bach of N. J., Greenhalge of Massachusetts and Tracey of New York. Be-
sides the men given at the foot of this letter, the Association ought to attack
by name Payson of Illinois, Cannon of Illinois, Cogswell and Walker of
Massachusetts, and Grosvenor of Ohio (Republicans).
3 I 3 • TO ARTHUR PUE GORMAN R.M.A. Ms?.0
Washington, March i, 1891
Sir: On Feb. 23d last you commented with some temper upon me for having
in a letter to you, and also in public speeches "called you to account very
severely" for what you said on the floor of the Senate, a couple of years
ago, in criticising the action of the Civil Service Commission; and you fur-
ther remarked that you had at the time "sought to correct a great evil"
which had arisen owing to our "stupidity"; and that I had "gone beyond the
bounds of propriety" and been guilty of "audacity" because as you said, I
had found fault with you for having "attempted to correct the defects grow-
ing out of (the Commissioners) want of ability to enforce the Civil Service
law in a practical and fair way." You added that you had neither answered
nor taken any notice of my letter, deeming my action outrageous and
insolent.
Permit me to refresh your memory as to the facts in the case. In a speech
in the Senate in 1889 you criticised the alleged extraordinary and impracti-
cal questions which the Commission propounded to applicants and gave an
account of a (purely imaginary) "outrage" perpetrated by our local board
in Baltimore upon a friend of yours "a bright young man" who tried to pass
the letter carriers' examination. You said "They wanted him to tell them
what was the most direct route from Baltimore to Japan, and, as he said, he
never intended to go to Japan, he had never looked into that question, and
he failed to make the proper answer. They then wanted to know the num-
ber of lines of steamers plying between the United States and Liverpool or
London. . . . They then branched him off into geometry . . . and pass-
ing over everything that looked to his qualifications he was rejected." There
is not one word of truth in this statement from beginning to end; each indi-
vidual assertion is a falsehood. No such questions and none even remotely
resembling them have ever been asked in any of our examinations for letter
carriers, whether at Baltimore or elsewhere. In these as in all our other
239
examinations the questions asked are practical and are relevant to the duties
to be performed in the place sought for.
Later in the same year you substantially reiterated these statements in
interviews in the press and they were widely quoted and used as arguments
against the Commission. Your high official position, which gave them cur-
rency and credence, made it imperative that they should be answered.
As there was not a word of truth in your allegations it was evident either
that you were wilfully stating what you knew to be false, or else that you
had been grossly deceived by your friend "the bright young man." I acted
on the latter supposition, and wrote you a perfectly respectful letter, point-
ing out that we had never asked any such questions as you alleged, and
offerring to show all the letter carrier examination papers we had ever used
either to you, or if you had not the time, to some one whom you might
appoint to examine them at his leisure. You received this letter but never
answered it. Be it remembered that my offer to you to examine all our letter
carriers' examination papers is still open. Or you can give us the name of the
"bright young man," if he has any name, or if you have forgotten his name,
you can state to us the time at which he was examined, and we will send to
you or make public any examination papers we then used.
It was then evident, after you refused to answer and failed to retract
your statements, that whether you had originally erred through ignorance
or not you had no intention of withdrawing the untruths you had utterred.
The only course left me was to publish an authoritative and flat contradic-
tion of your statement, with an account of my dealings with you. This was
the course I followed. That it should have irritated you I do not wonder.
Your position was not a pleasant one, and it is no pleasanter now. Yours
314 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS
Washington, April 5, 1891
Darling Bye, I have varied my civil service work by an inroad on the Balti-
more Federal officials with an attendant fight of more than usual bitterness;
that queer fish Bonaparte being my chief ally.
On Tuesday we had an unexpectedly pleasant dinner at the Pellews,
Judge Brown, one of the new Supreme Court Judges being there. Harrison
has certainly made admirable appointments to the bench.
I spent two or three days in New York, going to the Boone & Crockett
dinner, which was most pleasant, and having a delightful lunch with Brander
Matthews. Poor Corinne is suffering the tortures of the damned from a visi-
tation of Mr. & Mrs. Robinson, who read the bible all the time, are steeped
in woe, and very selfish.
Poor Bob Fergie has been very sick and is now staying on here at Mrs.
Cameron's. It is very nice to see him again. He'll have to take care of his
240
health by going for long trips out west if he expects to \vork in New York.
Fm sorry he can't go with me this fall. Yours ever
3 I 5 • TO FREDERICK WILLIAM KRUSE RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, April 6, 1891
Dear Kruse: I am very glad to hear from you. I wish I could have seen you
while you were in Washington. The pleasantest memories of my Albany
days are connected with my association with you, Van Duzer, Hunt, Howe
and a few others, who certainly did make that legislature hum.
My books so far published are The Winning of the West, Hunting Trips
of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, Essays on Practical Poli-
tics (which contains some of my Albany experiences), the Naval History of
the War of 2812, the History of the City of New York, the Lifer of Gou-
verneur Morris, and the Life of Thomas Hart Benton. Rather a formidable
list, are they not? The best books among them are The Winning of the
West, and the Hunting Trips of a Ranchman. Cordially yours
3 I 6 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
Washington, April 6, 1891
Dear Mr. Swift, It seems to me that for a reform paper, the enclosed article
from the Boston Herald is very bad. It is the very argument to delight the
souls of all spoilsmen. Condemn Harrison by all means, and unstintedly; but
do not say that bad conduct in him makes the same conduct in Cleavland
good. On the Herald's principle this kind of thing will never stop. If Clark-
son1 justifies Maxwell,2 then he is justified by Stephenson,8 and so on ad lib.
Cordially yours
3 I 7 • TO LUCIUS BUKRIE SWIFT SlVlf t
Washington, April 1 1, 1891
My dear Mr. Swift: I was very sorry to hear of the death of postmaster
Wallace. He has acted perfectly squarely for the last two years. When his
1 James S. Clarkson, a journalist and politician, owner of the Des Moines Register,
1870-1891. Harrison appointed him First Assistant Postmaster General in which posi-
tion he replaced Democratic fourth-class postmasters with Republicans at a rate of
about 30,000 a year.
"Robert A. Maxwell, Fourth Assistant Postmaster General under Cleveland. His
actions aroused Carl Schurz who informed Cleveland that Maxwell's "guillotine was
filling the basket at the rate of 100 to 150 heads per day."
8 Adlai Stevenson, First Assistant Postmaster General under Cleveland; Vice-President
of the United States, 1893-1897, Democratic nominee for Vice-President in 1900. He
was once described as the man who "had decapitated sixty-five republican postmasters
in two minutes," a description he considered "the highest compliment he had ever
received."
241
successor is appointed can you write me a line as to what kind of a man he
is? I hope that we get some one who will observe the law faithfully and
well.
I am now busily engaged in investigating some Baltimore matters, which
promise fruitful results. How soon I will be able to make them public, how-
ever, I cannot tell, as the President does not seem to approve of any paper
being made public until he has formally released it.
I must congratulate you on the admirable work the Chronicle has been
doing. It fills an entirely unique position among the civil service papers. I
wish greatly, however, that I had a chance of seeing you in person. There
are a number of things that I would like to say to you, — to talk over with
you, with reference to civil service reform. I do wish we could get an exten-
sion of the service. Tracy1 has done well, in declaring that he will put the
Navy Yards under a system of registration like that in Boston. But we need
to have the classified service itself extended, and extended soon. Is there
any chance of your coming on to Washington, at all? If not, I must try to
stop at Indianapolis going out to the west, or coming back from it, so as to
have a chance to see you.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Swift. Very cordially yours
3 1 8 • TO w. T. HUFF Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 13, 1891
Dear Sir: I do not believe there are any documents on the point you
mention. I can say, however, that it would be quite impossible to consider
for a moment the question of government ownership of railroads and tele-
graphs, until the question of spoils appointments is entirely eliminated from
the public service. It would be rank folly of the wildest kind to entrust
the railways and the telegraph systems of the country to the hands of people
who would make the appointments for the benefit of certain politicians, to
reward certain partisan services, rather than for the benefit of the people as
a whole. We must have some thoroughly efficient nonpartisan service, like
that which obtains in the departments at Washington, applied to any sys-
tem for taking the railways and telegraph lines under government control.
This is an essential prerequisite. Until it is done, or at least until it is pro-
vided for, it would be quite useless to even discuss the question of the
government control of these great divisions of industry.
If there is any further information that I can give you, pray command
me. Very truly yours
1 Benjamin Franklin Tracy, brevet brigadier general in the Union Army; Secretary
of the Navy, 1889-1893; Republican; reformer.
242
3 1 9 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS Ms$.°
Washington, April 19, 1891
Darling Bye, After a really cool winter and early spring we have had a
week of weather like Tophet. Dear, good Bob has just been immolated on
that rather unattractive Cameron altar, for the Senator during the first part
of the week went on a complicated spree — one of the amusing develope-
ments of which was a lurid dinner whereof Edith and I formed part —
and finally retired with Bob as care taker to his Pennsylvanian farm. Dear
Springy assisted Bob in a gray and pallid way. The funny thing is that the
two nice boys have a certain regard for the Senator and are a little shocked
that I can develope towards him no feeling stronger than a good humoured
contempt.
Of course the hot weather is proving tolerably severe on the two small
boys; Alice is in splendid health. They are all three just the most darling
little things imaginable, I doubt if I could tell the comfort and pleasure they
are to me.
On Wednesday there was a jumping contest at the riding academy;
Bay Lodge won in the heavy weight class on Toronto. I have been trying
to get some exercise by long walks, or rather trots, in thick flannels; alone,
or with Cabot and Harry Davis when I can lure them out.
I have been continuing my Baltimore investigation; it is a great satis-
faction to feel I have really accomplished something during my two years
work as Commissionner; and Harrison seems to be really inclined to take
some steps in advance now. By the way, my "New York" has been received
very well by the English press, from the Saturday Review on. Give my
best love to Elliott and Anna. Your loving brother
320 ' TO CHARLES A. PETERS Roosevelt
Washington, May 13, 1891
Sir:1 The Honorable Secretary of the Treasury has referred to this Com-
mission your letter to him of May yth. This letter was plainly an attempt
to influence the Secretary of the Treasury to further your appointment for
political reasons. Its impropriety is therefore obvious. You are mistaken as
to the facts. You did not stand fourth from the top in the civil service
examination, but sixth. No man below your grade has been certified, the
two appointments made having been of men standing first and second on
the list. Not an appointment is controlled by the party in power in the
State of Texas nor, I may add, by the party in power anywhere else. You
will not be buried beneath the avalanche of 60 or 70 Democratic applicants
of which you speak, unless they stand better than you. It is a question
1 Charles A. Peters, gauger in the Internal Revenue Service, in Pike County, Ohio.
243
with the Commission whether in view of your letter you can be certified
to the Treasury Department at all even when your name is reached and the
Commission will later decide this point and also whether your letter and
its action taken thereon shall or shall not be made public. Respectfully
321 • TO THEODORE BABCOCK RoOSCVelt Ms*.
Washington, May 14, 1891
Dear Mr. Bab cock:'1 You have probably seen that the zist Assembly Dis-
trict Association has appointed a committee to inquire into the method of
conducting the examinations in the custom house. This was done at my sug-
gestion. I wish to throw open the books, and all that, entirely, to the com-
mittee, and let them examine them perfectly freely exactly as I would let
any ^member. ...» I am confident that everything is as straight as it
can possibly be, but I want you now to go all over the papers and books
and see that everything is just as straight as a string.
Now for a question that you need not answer, if you do not wish to.
Are you a Republican, or not? I understood that you were, and I have so
stated.
Have you any suggestions to make as to the improvement in the exam-
ination questions? Can we make them more practical in any way? I do not
see that we can, myself. I merely want to be armed "cap-a-pie" for any kind
of assault that may be made upon us, and be able to answer any questions
that may be put to me. I suppose I shall come on in two or three weeks,
and will get the committee down to the board's rooms, and there go over
the papers and books with them, in the presense of some of the members of
the board. So have everything ready for me. I have guaranteed that they
will find everything straight, and I wish that my guarantee shall be made
good. Have all the papers in the two Examiners examinations ready for me.
Yours truly
322 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Washington, May 15, 1891
Darling Bye, I am writing you a couple of days ahead of time because I
start this afternoon on a hurried trip to Indianapolis and St. Louis, and
probably will be unable to write Sunday.
Springy and I dined every day with the Lodges or Chandlers, and on
Wednsday saw them depart with much gloom. That evening I dined at
the Andersons with Harry and Missy Whitmore — oh, Lord, they are
a nice, good couple, but they drive me nearly frantic! I had Harry to lunch.
1 Theodore Babcock, secretary of the Civil Service Board, New York City Customs
House.
2 44
Last evening good, futile pathetic Springy and I dined at home, on a dinner
prepared by colored Millie.
I am now riding Chandler's pony, which I have christenned Pickle;
a very nice pony, hardy, high spirited, and as handy as a jackknife. Today
I rode out with good little Speck. By the way that small Teutonic Baron
is quite a companion; he and I took an hour and a half's trot — literally
trot — through the woods the other day. I feel I must get some little
exercise.
My two colleagues are out of town now, so I am working my own
sweet will with the civil service commission. I much enjoy it; and I really
get through much more work than when they are here. I have had rather
a lull in my warfare with the ungodly lately; but I guess it will soon break
out again with tenfold greater virulence.
Give my best love to Elliott and Anna and the children. I am fright-
fully homesick for Edith and my own blessed small ones; as I walk home
through the parks I find myself involuntarily looking round for the little
merry things. Your loving brother
323 • TO G. GARBET Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, May 22, 1891
Dear Sir: I was of course very glad to see you and to have a talk with you.
I am sorry that I cannot agree with all you say, in particular as to what
you say about the election of Republicans to office. I believe in the Repub-
lican party for principle, not for offices, and I wish to see a Republican
State Senator, because I think he will do better for the State than a Dem-
ocrat would — not because I think there is any patronage in it for Repub-
licans. We elect a State Senator with a view to his performing his duties
and with a view to what the party has done in the state and in the nation.
In an appointment to the custom house politics do not enter into it in the
least, and ought not to. If a man does his duty to the public he can do
just as well as a minor servant in the custom house or post office, no matter
to which party he belongs; but in the State Senate or in any similar elec-
tive body the question of his Republicanism does enter as a factor. In other
words, the two cases have no similarity at all, and are not in any way
analogous.
You say that the party will lose by stay-at-homes if Democrats are not
turned out. It would lose ten times more by those who believe it would
be breaking our faith if we should in any way violate the civil service kw.
What I said about two wrongs not making a right holds exactly. If the
previous administration did not observe the law well it only makes it the
more incumbent on me to see that the kw is observed well now. In your
individual case it does seem to me that there is hardship involved, but, my
dear sir, it is impossible to make a general rule that will not make some
245
particular case seem hard; and to make a general rule predicated on your
case would work the grossest injustice. Yours truly
324 • TO JOHN F. VICTORY RoOSevelt MsS.
Washington, May 28, 1891
Dear Sir: x I was very glad indeed to get your letter written on behalf of
the letter carriers' association. I am delighted at the proposition that the
letter carriers themselves shall endeavor to procure an extension of the civil
service rules. Undoubtedly, the letter carriers will never find themselves
in the position to which as American citizens they are entitled until the
whole postal service is classified and the appointment to and tenure of office
made to depend solely upon merit, and not in the least upon political influ-
ence. What obtains in the great cities now ought to obtain in every free
delivery station. I should strongly advise your association to request or ask
that the classified service be extended to cover all free delivery stations.
The Civil Service Commission has already requested that the service be
extended to cover all post offices with 25 employees. Perhaps this would
be better to begin with, and so you might pass a resolution endorsing the
action of the Civil Service Commission in requesting the extension of the
classified service to include all these twenty-five-employee post offices. This
will take in a great many, and as soon as we had it fairly established there
we could then work to have it established in all free delivery post offices.
I think that a resolution of yours to this effect sent to the Postmaster
General and to the President would have a good effect in bringing about the
result aimed at.
Wishing you success, I am, Very truly yours
325 • TO JOHN PROCTOR CLARKE RoOSCVelt
Washington, May 29, 1891
Dear Sir: * As I do not know who is the chairman of your committee, I send
this letter to you, and beg that you will hand it to him.
According to the reports in the press, the resolution of which the adop-
tion was urged by Mr. Joseph Murray2 at a meeting of the 2ist Assembly
1 John F. Victory, New York City letter carrier.
*John Proctor Clarke, New York lawyer who later was assistant corporation
counsel for New York in Mayor Strong's administration and a justice of the Supreme
Court of New York. An active and ardent supporter of Roosevelt, he took part in
many of the fetter's campaigns and accompanied him on his western trip in 1900.
•Joseph Murray, Republican machine politician and friend of Roosevelt. He managed
Roosevelt's first campaign for the Assembly in 1881. The friendship begun at this
time continued for tne rest of their lives. Thirty-three years later, Roosevelt said:
'There are many debts that I owe Joe Murray ... it was to him that I owe my entry
into politics. . . . He was by nature as straight a man, as fearless and as stanchfy
loyal, as any one whom I have ever met" (Roosevelt, Autobiography, Nat, Ed. XX,
62-65).
246
District Association, and which were laid over for investigation by your
committee, read as follows:
Whereas, The local civil service board of examiners is composed of
Democrats and others antagonistic now, as they always have been, to the
Republican party, and
Whereas, This local board, for some unexplained reason, is sustained by
the Civil Service Commission, constituted as it is of but one Republican
and two openly avowed opponents of the Republican party,
Therefore, We do most earnestly protest against the mode and manner
of conducting the examinations adopted by the local civil service board of
examiners, and we denounce their partisanship and the farcical manner in
which their examinations are conducted, and earnestly request that the
authorities devise some means to compel the local civil service board of
examiners to give practical instead of theoretical examinations, and urge upon
them the importance of reorganizing the board by appointing competent
Republican citizens who will not unfairly or unjustly discriminate against
Republicans, or who will prevent by their conduct the promotion and ap-
pointment of competent Republicans to office.
Be it further Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted
to the Civil Service Commission in Washington, and to the Secretary of the
Treasury.
In order that we may have some definite point on which to take issue,
I will now take up the statements contained in these resolutions in detail.
The first Whereas, referring apparently to the local civil service board in
the custom house, asserts that it is composed of Democrats and others an-
tagonistic now as they always have been, to the Republican party. This
statement is simply a falsehood. Of the seven members of that board at
present four are Republicans who were appointed into the service prior
to the adoption of the civil service rules in 1883, under Republican Presi-
dent. One is a Republican appointed under President Harrison's administra-
tion, a member of the Union League Club. Two are Democrats appointed
under Mr. Cleveland's administration. Therefore, of the seven members,
five are Republicans, one of them being a Grand Army man. My only
regret in connection with the political aspect of the board's membership
has been that we have not had more than two Democrats upon it.
The second Whereas recites that the Civil Service Commission itself
consists of one Republican and two openly avowed opponents of the Repub-
lican party. This is simply untrue. Apparently, the one Republican referred
to is myself. My colleague, Mr. Lyman, always goes home to vote, and
informs me that he has never in his life voted anything but the Republican
ticket.
The only important issue over which Joseph Murray and Roosevelt ever disagreed
was, as this rather sweeping resolution suggests, civil service reform. This disagree-
ment did not impair their friendship or mutual affection.
247
The resolutions then go on to protest against the mode and manner of
conducting the examinations by the local civil service board of examiners,
which they denote as "farcical." I challenge this statement, and wish spe-
cific instances in its support to be given. If the mode and manner of con-
ducting the examinations are not correct I will gladly have them corrected;
but I demand specific instances of the alleged faults or shortcomings.
The resolutions then request that practical instead of theoretical ques-
tions be asked by the local board. The questions now asked are perfectly
practical and relevant. In the cases of the higher grades they have direct ref-
erence to the duties to be performed. In the lower grades we ask questions
simply to test the general character and intelligence of the applicant. We
would particularly like to have any suggestions made as to having our
questions more practical, but we wish these suggestions specific. I find that
as a matter of fact those who are most fond of complaining that our ques-
tions are impractical are utterly unable to suggest any improvement in the
matter. It of course does no service to say that the questions are impractical,
unless some improvement can be suggested. Of course, the most impractical,
and most irrelevant of all questions to ask are questions as to a man's poli-
tics, and as to the district association to which he belongs, or his influence
with the leaders of his party, and we find that these are usually the ques-
tions which those who clamor loudest for "practical" tests, really wish to
have asked. I will show you all the examination papers we use, and I will
also show you the questions in use in the Treasury Department itself for
testing applicants for appointment and for promotion therein. We have
largely modeled our examinations upon these examinations, which are used
in the Department itself, and which, as the experience of the Department
has taught it, produce the most satisfactory results.
The resolutions then request the reorganization of the board, by appoint-
ing competent Republican citizens. Most assuredly, if the present members
are proved to be corrupt or incompetent, I will see that the board is re-
organized, and in such a case I will appoint none but competent citizens.
But with equal certainty, I will take care that these competent citizens
represent both Republicans and Democrats, as nearly equally divided as
possible.
The grave portions of the charges, however, are those in which the reso-
lutions denounce the partisanship of the present members of the board and
accuse them of unfairly or unjustly discriminating against Republicans,
and of preventing by their conduct the promotion and appointment of com-
petent Republicans to office. These charges are, indeed, grave. In the first
place, they show great ignorance on the part of those making them. The
board of civil service examiners at the custom house has nothing to do with
promotions in their admission examinations, and they have absolutely no
power to hinder or prevent the promotion of Republicans or anyone else,
through these examinations. If the members of the present board in con-
ducting their examinations have shown partisanship, or have unfairly or
unjustly discriminated against any candidates, whether Republicans or other-
wise, they have violated the law, and should be prosecuted by the district
attorney, as well as removed from office by the Secretary of the Treasury.
It is an extraordinary thing, if these offenses have been committed by them,
that the attention of the commissioners has not been called thereto. Whoever
introduced those resolutions before the district association should certainly,
if these grave charges are true, have brought them to the attention of the
Civil Service Commissioners, and we would have promptly investigated the
same. I of course demand to know the full particulars of the alleged mis-
conduct.
From what is stated in the press, it appears that the people making and
pushing these charges are Messrs. Murray, Spencer, and Quackenboss, all in
the Government employ, and, like the individuals against whom the charges
are brought, under the Secretary of the Treasury. If these charges are true,
the members of the board have been guilty of criminal misconduct, and
I shall not only request their removal by the Secretary of the Treasury,
but also their prosecution by the district attorney. If these charges are false,
then those bringing them are guilty of the most wilful and contemptible
falsehood and slander, and I shall promptly present their names, to the Secre-
tary of the Treasury, for such action as he may deem proper, in view of
their defamation of other employees in the same office. It is impossible to
imagine worse misconduct than that of a public servant who commits mal-
feasance in office; and it is almost as shameful to bring a charge of malfeas-
ance against a public servant who has not been guilty thereof. The man
who exposes criminal conduct on the part of a public officer performs a
great public service, and the man who wantonly, and without full proof,
accuses a public officer of malfeasance, forfeits all claim to the companion-
ship and respect of honest men.
Fortunately, the charges are so direct, and of so serious a nature that
there is no room for a half-and-half opinion in the matter. Either they are
true or they are false. If they are true it is a matter for the district attorney,
and unless it is a matter for the district attorney they are false.
My address for the next few days will be at Oyster Bay, Long Island,
New York, where I shall trust to hear from you. I much wish that you
could begin the investigation on the 8th or loth of the month, or at any
rate some time in June. I know you will consult me in advance, because
it will be impossible for me to get on to New York save on certain speci-
fied dates, on account of my official engagements. Yours very truly
326 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Oyster Bay, June 8, 1891
Dear Cabot, Many thanks for sending the paper containing your New Bed-
ford speech. I thought it admirable in every way. You made a very strong
1 Lodge, 1, 107-108.
249
summing up of what the Republican party should stand for. What a fool-
ish article McAdoo2 wrote about immigration — though he was sound on
the main point. The Tribune has come out practically against any kind of
restriction; of course that alien organ the Evening Post already occupied
this position. The newspapers in fact are showing the usual cowardice pro-
duced by the approach of a presidential election.
I can not make out from the papers what the Massachusetts Legisla-
ture has done about redistricting. Apparently the timid and foolish element
got the upper hand. How does it leave your district?
I am now carrying on a fight with the "hustlers" in our local assembly
association; I shall smash them; they have brought a series of wild charges
against the local board of examiners, and now fail to advance an iota of
proof.
I am going to get your "Boston" tomorrow, as I hear it is out; I was
told by a friend just back from England that Green8 was greatly pleased
with it.
Speck has been spending a week here; he is learning polo with German
solemnity and thoroughness.
Give my best love to Nannie. Edith sends love. Yours
327 • TO JOHN PROCTOR CLARKE RoOSCVelt
Washington, June 15, 1891
My dear Clarke: I want to thank you, and the other members of the com-
mittee, for the courtesy extended to me, and to say how much I appreciate
what you have done. It certainly is not my fault if the newspapers do not
understand not only your attitude towards me but my attitude towards
you; and the sincerity with which I expressed the obligations I thought
I was under to you.
Now, one request. In examining the local board when I am not present,
I wish very much you would confine yourselves as far as possible to ex-
amining them as to the methods by which they work, and not take up any
charges against any of them. I am, in a certain sense, their natural protector,
so far as they deserve to have a protector, and I would rather be there
to meet any charges made against them in person. Of course, you will not
put any of their accusers forward to meet them unless I am there; I mean
you will not have Murray or Spencer or any of the others there unless I
am there too. Otherwise I fear there might be some disagreeable incidents
to urge the investigation. I will be on again early in July, and I presume
that then you may want to hear me again, either to answer some more
questions, or to explain anything that arises in connection with the examina-
tion of the local board, and so I will appear before you again at that time.
8 William McAdoo, Democratic congressman from New Jersey, 1883-1891; Assistant
Secretary of the Navy, 1893-1896; police commissioner of New York Qty, 1904-1905.
'Longmans, Green, and Company nad published Henry Cabot Lodge's Boston (New
York, 1891).
Please let me know in advance about what period it will be possible for
you to meet me.
I do not know whether you wish to hear anything more about the
Spencer case or not. It seems to me that we have shown very clearly that
there is no possible grounds for believing that Pierce acted toward Spencer
in any way save as he ought to have done, and most emphatically Spencer
has not been discriminated against in any shape or fashion. He stands exactly
as the other 16 men examined stand.
If you still have any doubt as to the advisability of annulling the exam-
iners' examination, I will go into the matter still more fully than I have yet
done. I have now got all of the marks of all the candidates, and can answer
the final questions put by Mr. Bloomingdale, who, indeed, was a little bit
in error in some of his facts. However, I suppose that you are satisfied now
that taking all the different circumstances into account it would have been
impossible to let that examination pass and avoid the suspicion that there
has been fraud in connection with it somewhere. And if this is so, I will not
longer take up your time in dealing with it. I can understand how a man
of suspicious and violent temper like Spencer could believe that he did not
receive good treatment, although it is purely his own fault that he did so
believe, for if he had been content to ask any questions as to his treatment
he would have seen at once, provided he approached the matter in any-
thing remotely approximating to a reasonable spirit, that he had had every
kind of justice and fairness shown him.
I think good will come out of this public investigation. Certainly we
have shown our full desire to put everything before you and lay open all the
books.
I send copies of the letters of Birdsell and Rider, as you requested, to
Babcock; where you can see them & get copies.
Let me know if anything turns up that you think needs my attention.
Very cordially yours
328-10 HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, June 15, 1891
Dear Cabot: Do let me know a little bit about your new district. Are you
all right? That is the thing that I have been mainly worried over. I cannot
yet get a full idea of what the inside of the business has been, either on the
Democratic or Republican side. Do let me know a little about it. I presume
that a number of our brethren have been weak-kneed, as they usually are.
It does seem to me, however, as though some of the elect on the other side
have been having a parrot and monkey time too, for which praised be a
merciful Providence.
Did you write the editorial in the Boston Journal? It struck me as one
of the most deliciously humorous things of its kind I had recently seen.
1 Lodge, 1, 108-1 10.
I cannot help hoping that Brother Quincy2 will play the rest of the brethren
some unholy tricks from time to time; they need it; it will do them good.
And it will do him good to be found out.
Assistant Postmaster-General Bell apparently made a very good speech
the other day. At least it was so reported in the Boston Journal. He spoke
mighty sensibly, I am glad to hear that he did so.
I have carried my fight in New York through to a successful conclu-
sion, I believe, although some skirmishing yet remains to be done. What
especially delighted me was the evident feeling of the Republican associa-
tion, the people who are investigating the case, that I was a good Republi-
can, and a man whom they could trust and tie to. I think that that is going
to come out all right. Certainly they cannot but see that we throw open
the doors to every inquiry, and allow every responsible party to find out
everything that has been done.
Day before yesterday I saw Douglas's Orange teani get an awful thrash-
ing at Polo at the hands of the Meadowbrook men. I was out there, and
to my immense amusement the dudes treated me with profound and elab-
orate courtesy. I have just read through your "Boston." It is certainly an
excellent piece of work. It is one of which I think you have legitimate
reason to feel proud. You do not want to do any more booklets, of course,
any more than I do. But this particular booklet will be a credit to you. I
think you have every right to feel fully satisfied with it. And as regards
style, it is as good as anything that you -have done.
Give my best love to Nannie. Ever yours
P.S. By the way, isn't your use of "condign" on p. 219 unwarranted?
"condign punishment" implies merited punishment, does it not? Look it
up in the dictionary.
I enclose a delicious letter of Tom Reed's; send it back when you have
read it.
Did you receive my last note?
The Nation condemned my book for its provincial Americanism.
329 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, June 19, 1891
Dear Cabot, Your two letters reached me almost together. It was funny our
copies of Reed's amusing letters crossing one another.
Springy has been paying your "Boston" an evidently sincere meed of
praise by reading it all through in two days, from beginning to end; he
considers it very interesting and called my attention to various points as he
read. Sensible, appreciative boy, Springy — very. He is much worked up at
•Josiah Quincy, prominent Massachusetts Democrat; First Assistant Secretary of
State, 1893; mayor of Boston, 1895-1899. He had just been appointed chairman of the
State Democratic Committee.
1 Lodge, I, IIO-IH.
present over the excessive iniquity of American diplomacy. By the way,
there has been some queer work of some sort over the Behring Sea matter;2
but we seem to have come out of it very well. Wharton has had his suspi-
cions, and he talks very freely at rare intervals; but he is not in the con-
fidence of the Administration and really knows very little more about it
than every one does.
Beard's letter was very good. I shall devote a little spare time to him
in our next annual report, showing the small number of dismissals and resig-
nations, and saying that this is clear proof of honest enforcement of the
law. Can you not have copies sent me of the extracts from SaltonstalTs
letters. I particularly wish them.
I am glad Hayes3 advised you not to run for Governor. You don't wish
that position. Washington is your place; and let it get abroad quietly, that
you are to make the run for United States Senator.
Now, for a piece of social news, which will be of interest to Nannie,
as she ought to know of the more noted entertainments in high diplomatic
and administrative circles. On Wednesday and Thursday evenings of this
week I gave two dinners, assisted by Springy, with nice colored Millie as
cook and waitress. First dinner. Guests, the British Minister and the Secretary
of War. Bill of fare, crabs, chicken and rice, cherries, claret and tea. (Neither
guest died; and I think Proctor, who is a good native American, hungered
for pie, in addition.) Springy nervous and fidgety; I, with my best air of
oriental courtesy, and a tendency to orate only held in check by the mem-
ory of the jeers of my wife and intimate friend. 2nd Dinner. Guests, the
Secretary of the Navy and the British Minister, who was laboriously polite
and good but somewhat heavy in grappling with the novelty of the situa-
tion. Bill of fare, chops and rice, pdt£ de foie gras, raspberries, claret and
tea. (Guests still survive.) Springy still nervous. Tracy in great form, very
amusing and entertaining.
I'll bet they were dinners new to Sir Julian's experience, but both the
Secretaries enjoyed them. Yours
330 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, June 26, 1891
Dear Cabot: I have been thinking over your request for me to speak in
Massachusetts this fall, and I consulted Governor Thompson and Wharton.
1 do not think I ought to go. I think it would be merely frittering away
what I may be able to accomplish by speaking in Massachusetts in the con-
2 On June 15, 1891, the United States and Great Britain arrived at a modus vivendi
by which the killing of seals in the Bering Sea was prohibited until the following May.
The arbitration treaty was signed in February, 1892.
'Elihu B. Hayes, Massachusetts Republican politician, at one time mayor of Lynn,
Massachusetts.
1 Lodge, I, iii-iiz.
gressional and Presidential contest a year hence. This year there is nothing
particular to be gained, as far as I can see, by my appearance. You are not
running, and there is no President in question and no Congress; and 1
would certainly weaken whatever good effect would be produced by appear-
ing next year. Remember, that when I speak I have got to make up my
mind that unfavorable comment upon me, and therefore upon the Com-
mission, will follow, and I have to weaken myself a certain amount, with
the already overwhelming Democratic majority in the next House. I am
perfectly willing to do this for an object, but it does not seem worth while
doing it unless there is an object. The Governor is strongly against my
going; he thinks it will have a very bad effect and Wharton also strongly
advises against it. Of course, if you make a dead point of it, I will come.
Meanwhile, cannot you come down to Oyster Bay between the i3th and
1 9th? That will be polo week, and it might amuse you to see it. We should
very much like to have you. Come at any rate, even if only for a day or
two. Yours ever
P.S. Love to Nannie. I have turned into an anglo-maniac here and play
tennis at the British Legation every afternoon. Play it very badly, too.
Springy feels fairly venomous over American politics and social life just
at present. He is a dear, and I soothe him. Have you seen Brander Matthews'
clever little article on Briticisms and Americanisms in the July Harper?
331 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed 1
Washington, June 29, 1891
Dear Old Cabot, Your letter made me feel really downhearted. You have
certainly been treated with the basest ingratitude2 by what ought to be, but
emphatically is not, the best element in the community. You have had a
most honorable and successful career in the House; at the worst I would
take one or two terms more therein; and if you are elected to the Senate,
you draw one of the great prizes of American politics. In your position it
was absolutely inevitable for you to be bitterly attacked by the Harvard
College "educated" crowd. They have been aU wrong for the last seven
years; and they were bound in order to justify themselves, to assail the best
man who took the opposite view. This attitude is radically false. Take what
is happening now, for instance. They hate, or profess to hate, Tammany
above all other things, yet Tammany is recognized as the corner stone of
the northern democracy everywhere outside of New England, and the
three "reform" candidates for speaker, Mills,8 Crisp,4 and MacMillan,5 are
1 Lodge, 1, 112-114.
"Lodge had been defeated for re-election as an Overseer of Harvard.
8 Roger Quarles Mills, Democratic congressman from Texas, 1873-1892; senator,
1892-1899.
* Charles Frederick Crisp, Democratic congressman from Georgia, 1883-1890; Speaker
of the House, 1891-1895. The election of Crisp, accomplished by a combination which
all to appear before Tammany on July 4th, to try for favors! Yet the mug-
wump papers will have no comment on this, no explanation as to what it
really means, no exposure as to the attitude of the Speakership candidates
whom they have extolled as the apostles of purity.
As for their praise of me, it is I am sorry to say a measure and sign of
the fact that my career is over, and that though as I firmly believe I have
done a good work — the best work I could do — yet that in doing it I have
spent and exhausted my influence with the party and country. I am at the
end of my career, such as it is; you may be but at the beginning of yours,
and you have already had a most honorable one.
My task for the past two years has been simple. I have only had to battle
for a good law; and though this meant drawing down on me the bitter ani-
mosities of the men who in New York, at least, control politics, it was easy
to perform creditably, and offered no obstacles in the way of being mis-
understood or misrepresented by men of standing and intelligence. A much
harder, and much greater, task is the work of an organization, of a party
in Congress. Had I been in Congress I should now be as bitterly assailed as
you. I often have a regret that I am not in with you, Reed, and others in
doing the real work; the work that is not too much in advance of the people
— though I don't wish to be understood as regretting what I have been
working at; on the contrary I am proud of it. There is an unexpectedly
wise sentence about the necessity of being a good party man to do effective
work in this month's Atlantic, in the review of Houghton's life.
By the way, to my utter surprise, I thought Schurz's article on Lincoln
in the June Atlantic very good; if you see Morse tell him that if Schurz
can write a whole volume in that tone he could do the Lincoln for the
series very well. Yours always
332 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Washington, July i, 1891
Dear Cabot, Yesterday Springy and I moved over to 1721 where we are just
as comfortable as possible, and are excellently taken care of by nice black
Martha; and we think very gratefully of our absent host and hostess.
When we went to bed last night Springy performed a delicious feat. We
went upstairs in the dark, and did not light the gas. I turned into my room;
and noticed that, as I undressed, I did not hear anything of Springy. Soon
however I heard my name called from the flight above; and then followed
demands to know where / was and where he was, and where our bedrooms
were; and when I had answered these questions and lit the light Springy
included Tammany politicians and Populists, was considered a victory for the silver
forces.
"Benton McMillin, Democratic congressman from Tennessee, 1879-1899.
1 Lodge, 1, 1 14-1 15.
came paddling downstairs dressed a la Lady Godiva, with his clothes, shoes,
etc., clasped in his arms. He had dreamily walked up one extra flight, un-
dressed and started to get into bed; when it occurred to him as odd that the
bed had no sheets. He couldn't find any matches, and began to feel that
there was a mystery somewhere; and so he became vocal, and when I an-
swered him from below he at first felt as if I had gone down to live in the
cellar.
I have been here pretty steadily so far, save for ten days, when I was in
New York, taking advantage of the 2ist Dist. investigation. But I don't think
I shall have to be here very much during the rest of the summer; probably
only for a week or so at a time, and with a fortnight's intermission.
We saw the President today, about some changes in the rules. Having
promulgated the Indiana rules he will do nothing else, and will not even con-
sider changes to which there is no opposition, and which would merely sim-
plify and expedite business; throughout the interview he was of course as
disagreeable and suspicious of manner as well might be.2
Things don't look very well for Wanamaker. I doubt if he did anything
criminal; but he has, according to his usual practice, indulged in needless
lying, thanks to his sloppy mindedness; and this may make it ugly for him,
Did you see how our old friend Grosvenor lied and got caught, and fell in
consequence?
During these two months the British Legation has really been a great
comfort to me; I have played tennis there, or rowed on the river with
Springy and Johnstone, every afternoon; and I have dined there two 01
three times a week as a rule.
Best love to Nannie; and Constance and Bay and John.8 Yours
3 3 3 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed 3
Washington, July 22, 1891
Dear Cabot: Here I am back again at work, and there is mighty little work tc
do. I am now at work on the annual report. I am going to put in a good dea
of matter that I cannot relieve myself of in any other way.
1 Harrison had made the following rules with regard to the civil service: i. Eacl
department was to give its own competitive examinations for promotions, these exam
inations to be outside the jurisdiction of the commission. 2. Eligible lists, with grades
were to be made public. 3. The rule which allowed government employees outsidi
the classified service to be promoted or transferred into it without examination wai
to be revoked. Despite these changes, Roosevelt evidently felt that the President wa
not behind the commission.
8 John Ellerton Lodge, younger son of Henry Cabot Lodge. He was curator of th<
department of Asiatic Art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts from 1910 to 1931, am
after that, curator of the Freer Gallery in Washington.
1 Lodge, I, 115-116.
256
I wrote to both Clapp and O'Meara,2 as you requested, and received ex-
ceedingly nice letters in return. I am very glad you gave me a hint in the
matter.
Our polo team did very much better than I had any idea they would.
Having a heavy handicap they beat Essex, making three goals which stood
them six to the good, and in the finals with Morristown were only beaten
by a quarter of a goal, — that is, by a knockout for safety. Next year, Heaven
willing I intend to be on the team myself, and do my own part.
Here I have been greeted warmly by Springy, still lame but no longer
on crutches. Martha takes excellent care of me, as usual. Please tell Nannie
this.
I need scarcely tell you what a great comfort it is to me that I am in your
house, and not staying around at some dreary hotel in this hot weather.
Naturally I am a little homesick for Oyster Bay, and as there seems to be
very little to be done here I shall soon go back to it. I do not object in the
least to staying here to work just as hard as can possibly be, but when there
is nothing to be done, literally, then I hate to stay. However, I am getting
off most of my report, — my annual report, and my Baltimore report is
pretty nearly ready. In fact, all the work that can be done has been done. If
the President would only act a little differently there is a whole raft of work
which we could do, and which I should very much like to do. However,
I cannot complain.
Best love to Nannie. Yours very cordially
P.S. The President actually refuses to consider the changes in the rules
which are necessary to enable us to do our work effectively. He has never
given us one ounce of real backing. He won't see us, or consider any method
for improving the service, even when it in no way touches a politician. It is
horribly disheartening to work under such a Chief. However, the very fact
that he takes so little interest gives me a free hand to do some things; and
I know well that in life one must do the best one can with the implements at
hand, and not bemoan the kck of ideal ones.
Foster8 is doing his best in the Keystone Bank affair. Foster has also
chosen two admirable men to investigate the seal fisheries. On the other
hand, in truckling to the foreign vote he has chosen pretty poor sticks to
investigate the all important problem of the immigrants who come here from
Europe.
1 Stephen O'Meara, an editor of the Boston Journal, later its editor-in-chief and pub-
lisher.
"Charles Foster, Secretary of the Treasury, 1891-1893.
334 " To CHARLES B. WILEY Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 19, 1891
My Dear Sir: * I wish to thank you for your course in bringing the case of
Hannars to our attention. If we only had in each city a few public-spirited
men willing to take a little trouble to investigate any violations or alleged
violations of the civil service law it would be far easier to enforce it. It is an
excellent thing to have the attention of the postmaster called to the fact that
his course is being watched, even if in a given case he can show that his con-
duct was justified. I am sorry to say that in almost all the offices the non-
classified and excepted places are treated even now as simply so much spoils.
In acting as you say he is, Mr. Zumstein2 is, unfortunately, only following
the general practice in this regard. I wish greatly that almost all of the
places at present excepted and nonclassified were put into the classified list,
as they ought to be. Yours truly
335 • TO WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 19, 1891
My dear Mr. Toft: x We are trying to promulgate a scheme of promotions
for the classified service.2 Of course, the scheme when perfected will be sub-
mitted to all the heads of departments for their consideration, but in getting
up the rough draft I should like to consult some representative from each
department also. Could you come down to our office tomorrow, Thursday,
at 2, or if that is not convenient, send any representative you choose? It is, of
course, of comparatively small consequence to your department, your force
not being large.
So much for official business. Now; I have a small daughter, just a week
old, and everything is most satisfactory at home. How is all with you?
Can you dine with me, in the most frugal manner, Friday night at 8
1 Charles B. Wilby, civil service reformer from Cincinnati. He once stated his
position as follows: "For many years our political parties have had no reason for
continued existence, except that furnished by the spoils of office. . . . What the
politician says against the civil service law is but the echo of the fear of his
master. . . " — The Civil Service Chronicle, 1:92 (January 1890).
8 Postmaster Zumstein of Cincinnati observed the spirit of the Civil Service Law only
in those offices which were definitely classified. Heads of departments and officers
who had to handle a great deal of money were still without the law.
1 Taft was then Solicitor General of the United States.
* Harrison had just introduced competitive examinations as a means of promotion in
the classified service. Roosevelt objected that such examinations, in the absence of
information from superiors about the efficiency, industry, ability, and morality of the
candidates, were useless. He accordingly drew up a system of promotion that would
take these matters into account. It was sent to the President in September. He disre-
garded it and asked each cabinet member to establish his own standards for promo-
tion instead. The commission was thus completely removed from influence in the
matter of promotion. This was a severe blow to Roosevelt, who spent much of his
time on the very complicated question of promotion within the classified ranks.
258
o'clock, at 1721 Rhode Island Avenue? No dress suit — I have'n't got any.
Cordially yours
336 • TO E. B. LIVINGSTON R.M.A. MSS.
Washington, August 25, 1891
My dear Sir: I must again thank you for another welcome letter.1 You have
quite interested me in my own coat of arms. As I say, I know nothing about
it beyond the fact that it has always been borne by the family here and is on
the plate they gave to the Dutch Reformed Church a couple of centuries
ago. I will send you my book plate with my coat of arms with great pleasure.
By the way, among my Scotch ancestors is a member of the Douglas
family, or at least the genealogy of my mother's people in Georgia includes
a "Lady Euphemia Douglas," the wife of Charles Irvine, whose daughter
married a son of Archibald Bulloch the first Governor, or as he was then
styled, the President of the first Government under Revolutionary Georgia.
Genealogies of this sort are pretty loosely kept in the Southern States, and
indeed elsewhere throughout our country, and the value of the record I
could not say off-hand.
I thank you very much for your good opinion of Gouverneur Morris.
Now as to the question you ask me, to which it gives me great pleasure
to respond. In the first place I enclose herewith a note of introduction to
Charles Dudley Warner.2 I think he knows more about Southern California
than any other person I can at present think of. I do not know anything
about the company you speak of, and this being the dull season in Wash-
ington none of my California friends are here. Indeed I start on a hunt for
the Rocky Mountains in a couple of weeks myself. I cannot speak definitely
about Southern California myself. My experience in ranching has only been
with cattle. I understand however that Southern California is a very good
place for a man who has a little capital and is wise enough not to try to
invest that capital until he has lived and worked a couple of years in the
country himself, even though those two preliminary years are very rough.
The climate is very healthy for children I know. But any incoming settler
must expect to work hard and to lead a tolerably rough life if he is going to
win success, and he ought not to be tempted to invest his capital until he
knows by actual experience what can and what cannot be done. I mean by
actual experience, even to the extent of working out on other farms or
ranches for a summer, so as to learn the business. I cannot help believing that
if this is all done a man of good sense and resolution can get along well in
California and give his children a good start. Please let me know if there is
xThe correspondence between Roosevelt and Livingston, of which this letter is
representative, was originally begun when Livingston called attention to an assumed
error in the account of the Livingston family that occurred in Roosevelt's New? York.
'Charles Dudley Warner, essayist and editor, author of Studies in the South and
West (New York, 1889).
259
anything further in which I can be of any assistance to you in any way.
Yours very cordially
3 3 7 • TO JOSEPH MULVEY Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 25, 1891
My Dear Sir: x Your welcome letter was received to-day. I need not say how
pleased I have been at the action of your Association,2 and how much per-
sonally I appreciate your individual courtesy. As I wrote you before, I am
convinced that the people of all others most benefited by the civil service
law are the men who work, and it is the greatest pleasure to me to find that
the Knights of Labor are waking up to this fact.
I shall answer your second question first. We have already recommended
that a provision be added to the rules whereby any carrier or other public
employee who is to be removed shall be given a hearing first, and that the
charges against him shall be entered in writing, and that they shall be made
public if he so desires; and, moreover, that the Commission shall have power
to investigate and report on any case of removal. This was all provided for
in the bill introduced in the last House by the Committee on Reform in the
Civil Service. By writing to the Clerk of the House you could doubtless get
a copy of this bill, and your course would then be to petition that what it
provides for being enacted into kw should now be enacted into rule.
Now as to presenting your first petition in reference to the extension of
the classified service to all free delivery offices, I think the best way for you
to set about this would be to prepare your petition and then to prepare a
copy of it and send it to the President, with the request that he appoint some
time when your Committee could wait on him and be heard in reference to
its request. I think that this will be the most feasible method and that which
will give you the least trouble. Let me know if I can be of any further assist-
ance to you. Very truly yours
338 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, October i o, 1891
Dear Cabot, First about Constance. I hope she got my telegram from Me-
dora. I was simply dumbfounded; but I was delighted too, especially after
I had made inquiries and had heard through Katy Griswold and others noth-
1 Joseph Mulvey was the secretary of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
*The Letter Carriers' Association, at its national convention in Detroit, had passed
a resolution requesting the President to extend civil service to all free-delivery cities
in the United States.
1 Lodge, 1, 1 17-1 19.
260
ing but the warmest praise for Gardner.2 1 really love Constance; and I firmly
believe that no girl, and no man, can be so happy alone as if happily married;
but I also feel what a dreadful thing an unhappy marriage is; and so I could
not rest until I had begun to find out all I could of Constance's lover. As for
him, I can quite honestly say that he has won the sweetest young girl I know;
I do not know of another such still open to winning. Now I can really say
I believe all will be well with them; and I know I need not say how heart-
ily I wish them well, and how Edith and I sympathize with them. There is
no other such happiness on earth as there is for a true lover, and a sweet, fair
girl beloved.
I am just back from my hunt. Tell Bay I shot nine elk. One of the heads
is for you; not an unusual head at all, I am sorry to say; simply an ordinary
ustag of twelve," what the old books call a "royal." Bob, whom I left out
in the wilds, was having even better luck. When I left he had got on the trail
of a bear; I think he will get it. I got into splendid trim physically by the
end of my hunt.
Now, as to yourself. In the first place, your Century article,8 from what
I see and hear, has undoubtedly been a ten strike. I have again read and reread
it, and I think it of very great and lasting value.
I also read carefully your speech in which you touched upon the civil
service record of the Administration. It was more than good; and I was es-
pecially pleased at the points you brought out from my Baltimore Report.
I should think that speech would have drawn blood. Lord, how I do hope
you win in Massachusetts! If you take part in a joint debate do if possible
make your opponent discuss the Democratic attitude on silver, take the ag-
gressive with him, and, most emphatically we ought to win in New York too.
As usual, I come back to rumors of my own removal, immediately after
the elections. The Sun, World and Times all contain accounts that Wana-
maker has had "special agents" at work on the Baltimore P. O. and intends to
"prove the falsity" of my report. Now that fool Wanamaker is quite capable
of trying this, for his sloppy mind will not enable him to see that his case is
weak; if he does try it I shall certainly lay him out as completely as I have
already done twice; so he will gain nothing by it, but he may involve me
against my will, in such a muss that the President will have to turn me out
simply because he can't turn out Wanamaker. If only the President would
take me into confidence in any way! Now, really, I can't help feeling that
I might make one speech in Massachusetts and one here this Fall; I broached
this at the White House before leaving for the West; but it was frowned on
at least that was the amount of it. If only they would back me up, and
then let me act publicly, on the stump, as a Republican! But they won't do
•Augustus Peabody Gardner, prospective husband of Constance Lodge, Republican
congressman from Massachusetts, 1902-1917.
•Henry Cabot Lodge, "The Distribution of Ability in the United States," Century
Magazine, 42:687-694 (September 1891).
261
either, and seem to regard me with a curious mixture of suspicion and
treacherous dislike.
There! I intended not to bore you with my complaints in the midst of
your absorbing struggle — but I've been and done it, and feel better, too.
At any rate I shall be with you next year, on the stump, if you wish me.
I don't suppose I really shall be turned out; and we'll have two more winters
in Washington together.
Do bring up the silver issue in your joint debates. If they attack you in
any way hit back without mercy. Show them no quarter; if they attack your
record on any point, not only show what your record really is but take their
records and pick them to pieces.
Give my wannest love to Nannie and Constance. Yours ever
339 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift Mss.
Washington, October 17, 1891
My Dear Mr. Sioift: I have received a copy of the Delphi Journal, contain-
ing a long rigmarole of foolish abuse in answer to my letter in the Chronicle.1
There is not of course so much as an effort made to substantiate its charges.
I therefore denounce its statements as mere wanton and malicious falsehoods,
which its editor knew to be wanton and malicious falsehoods at the time they
were written. I need only repeat what I have already said, that a lie is the
last refuge of a coward in attacking a man or a system when he has no other
possible argument upon which to fall back. It is no slight tribute to the civil
service law that its opponents are obliged invariably to fall back upon cheap
scurrility and mendacity when seeking to find some excuse aside from their
own predisposition to evil for assailing it. The bigger scoundrels are now
learning some wisdom in making their assaults. Bald and silly falsehood is at
present usually left to cheap nonentities like the editor of the Delphi Journal.
Now, I do not know whether you care to say anything about this or not.
You are welcome to quote as much of this letter as you choose in your
article if you think worth while to dignify the matter further. I wish we
could have a more prominent man or paper make the charge. I like to catch
Plumb2 or Gorman, because they are marks of some size, but I do aot know
that it is worth while shooting at such a microscopic target as this man.
I have twice called on Mr. Harrington; once he was in Europe, and once
he was out. I shall try my luck again in a day or two.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Swift. Very cordially yours
[Handwritten] P.S. I enclose a dollar for my subscription.
1The Civil Service Chronicle, 1:266 (September i8gi).
1 The Republican senators Preston B. Plumb and William M. Stewart had charged the
Civil Service Commission with favoritism, but neither senator replied to die com-
missioners' request for detailed information to sustain these charges and neither ac-
cepted the commission's offer to inspect its books and records.
262
340 • TO JAMES E. WHITE Roosevelt Alss.
Washington, October 19, 1891
Sir: x In accordance with a verbal understanding I have the honor to say that
the Commission desires to have a representative of the railway mail service
go to Xenia, Ohio, call upon Mr. Edward C. Oglesby personally and obtain
from him answers in his own handwriting to the questions herewith pre-
sented. It is important that the questions be propounded without Mr. Ogles-
by's previous knowledge of their character and that the answers be written
by himself in the presence of the aforesaid representative, being propounded
to him one at a time and each answer written before the subsequent question
is asked.
1. What is your name in full?
2. Are you an applicant for the railway mail service?
3. What was the date of your application?
4. Before whom did you make oath to your application?
5. What was the name of the physician who signed the physician's cer-
tificate?
6. Who were the other two citizens who vouched for you?
7. When and where were you examined?
8. In what building was the examination held?
9. What were the subjects of the examination?
10. Give some of the words in orthography.
11. How many copying exercises did you have and what were they?
12. What was the subject of the letter?
13. What were some of the arithmetic questions?
14. What were some of the questions in Geography?
15. What were some of the questions on the railway mail systems?
1 6. Describe the room in which the address-reading exercise was given to
you.
17. How many examiners assisted in the examination?
If it is evident after all of the above questions have been propounded and
answered that Mr. Oglesby did not himself take the examination, the follow-
ing may be asked:
1 8. Did you yourself write the examination in Cincinnati?
19. If you did not write the examination who did it for you?
If any facts are learned in addition to what may be brought out in the
answers which throw light upon the question whether Mr. Oglesby was im-
personated and if so by whom he was impersonated it is desired that such
facts be reported to the Commission. Very respectfully
1 James E. White, general superintendent of the Railway Mail Service.
263
341 • TO DANIEL G. GRIFFIN RoOSCVelt Ms*.
Washington, October 27, 1891
Dear Sir: l I have just laid your letter before the Commission. The Commis-
sion will take immediate action, but as you will readily see we must have
some definite information upon which to proceed. It has been the invariable
experience of the Commission that anonymous letters are absolutely useless
as a basis for an investigation. Can you not submit to the Commission in
confidence the names of at least some of the Government employes who
have given you information about political assessments, etc? We will then, if
possible, see these employes privately and arrange to have them publicly
called, scattered through a number of others chosen at random, so that it will
be impossible for any one to know which ones of those called have pre-
viously given information. Moreover, the Commission will strain every nerve
to see that no man is harmed in the slightest degree for any truthful testi-
mony he gives. Will you also kindly give us the name of any householder or
householders who are able in any measure to "substantiate and verify" the
complaints concerning violations of the civil service law? Will you give us
more definite information concerning any instance of the "daily and open
violation" of the law that have come under your observation, as you state
in your letter?
It is important that this investigation should begin as soon as possible,
and the Commission trusts that you will forward this information at once.
We assure you that the Commission will make a most rigid and thorough
investigation; but as you will readily see we must be given some definite facts
on which to go. Very respectfully
342 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, October 29, 1891
Dear Cabot: I have this letter typewritten, so that you shall read it as easily
and as quickly as possible. Of course don't answer it.
I have read your speeches in the Boston JournaFs report of the joint de-
bate, and I may say with perfect frankness and sincerity that I read them
with a glow of pride in you. I think that your peroration, the last five min-
utes of your second speech, is as fine as anything I know in oratory. Gover-
nor Thompson told me that he himself was thrilled when he read it. After
I had read your speeches, and then reread them, I gave them to the Gover-
nor, and when he was through sent them around to Wharton, so you see
your particular friends here know what you are doing. Tom Reed spent a
1 Daniel G. Griffin, a Cleveland Democrat, then chairman of the Democratic State
Executive Committee of New York.
1 Lodge, I, 119-120.
264
night with us at New York, and was delightful. He spoke with very great
admiration of the splendid canvass you are making.
By the way, I was much amused the other day to see in the Evening Post,
in a review of Andrew Lang's new collection of Lyrics, the statement that it
compared very unfavorably with Mr. H. C. Lodge's similar collection! I am
very anxious to see you and talk over many things, literary and otherwise.
I enclose you three funny cuts of yourself that may amuse you, and an
article in the New York World apropos of my having written a letter con-
cerning the New York canvass. I am rather pleased with the latter editorial;
it prevents there being any doubt as to my position. The Times had a similar
one, but of course very courteous in tone.
Best love to Nannie, and thank her very warmly for having written me.
Yours always
343 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT
Washington, October 30, 1891
My Dear Mr. Swift: I have just got to go on to New York to investigate
cases of alleged political assessments there. From all that I can learn however
the evidence is by no means so strong as in two or three cases I have sub-
mitted, and the Governor and myself feel reluctant to put the weakest case
on trial. We feel confident that we can get a conviction if the strongest cases
are properly pushed, and that it would be a black eye to the kw to have a
judicial decision against us. However if we can get any more information
we may make the case pretty strong.
I inclose a copy of a letter to show what has been done in the State serv-
ice in Michigan. The man Thompson wished to take one of our examina-
tions, and we found that he had been turned out by the incoming Democrats
in Michigan not because of his own shortcomings. The letter of the Auditor
General is as frank a statement of the extreme spoils system as you could
wish; in fact one might call it shameless. I am just going to New York, so
you must excuse me for sending this letter by proxy. / am, Very truly yours
344 • TO HERBERT WELSH Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, November 6, 1 8 9 1
Dear Mr. Welsh: l I was absent in New York when your letter came last
Saturday and have just this moment returned, having been busy with some
1 Herbert Welsh, Philadelphia reformer, publisher of City and State, a weekly
devoted to good government. Long active in civil service reform, he was one of the
organizers of the Indian Rights Association. His greatest contribution to the cause of
civil service, however, was his mobilization of various religious denominations. Credit
for the innumerable sermons preached on civil service reform in the eighties and
nineties must be assigned principally to him.
265
investigations of alleged infractions of the kw in the custom house and post
office there; infractions which I am happy to say proved non-existant.
In relation to the three federal employes whom Mr. Leech2 put at Repub-
lican campaign work as you state, I am sorry to say there is no provision in
the civil service law that covers their cases. It is merely a violation of the
executive order of President Cleveland, which is still nominally in force, but
which, as far as I know, never has been in force actually since the day it
was promulgated.
Now, a word as to civil service and Indian matters. I am very anxious
to take a short trip to the Pine Ridge agency sometime in January or Feb-
ruary next. A newspaper man whom I know quite well has been out there
acting as a Commissioner in relation to some Indian treaties during the past
summer. He tells me he can give me an immense amount of information as
to political favoritism and dishonesty in the Indian service out there; much
of which he thinks would be of great value to me in promulgating the new
rules and giving me an idea of the evils we have to fight. He also, incidentally,
makes a number of statements, which may or may not be true as to the Car-
lisle and Hampton graduates among the Sioux on that agency. I do not know
enough about the man to know whether his statements are trustworthy or
not. But he says he will go and point out the facts and then I can draw my
own conclusions. If I do go I would particularly like to have you go along
with me. Could you not do so? I should try to make my visit, in point of time
suit your convenience, if it were possible. Of course I can not definitely
promise to go myself, as there is no telling what antics the incoming Con-
gress will play and how much my presence will be necessary here. If I can
go, I should much like to, and would particularly desire to have you go
along with me.
Answer me at your convenience what you think about the plan. Cordially
yours
345 • TO HERBERT WELSH Roosevelt Mss.
Private & confidential Washington, December 22, 1891
Dear Mr. Welsh: Many thanks for the further information in the case of
Miss Lambdin. It certainly does seem as though she were being treated in a
double-faced way; but as I told you, I fear that under the present law there
is nothing that the Commission can take hold of. It is a matter for depart-
mental action, and I think that your agitation will have to be conducted with
a view to arousing public sentiment against the acts complained of.
I have just received a telegram from Mr. Field and a letter from Mr.
Hughes asking us to investigate and see if there have been any violations of
the civil service law as charged. I have also received a letter from Mr. Stuart
a Daniel Leech, a Republican, confidential clerk in the general appraiser's office, New
York City.
266
Wood,1 of the Civil Service Reform Association, in which he supports Mr.
Hughes' request. I should like very much if you would confer with Mr.
Wood and show him this letter, considering it, however, strictly confiden-
tial. I am by no means sure that it would be wise for us to comply with the
request of Mr. Hughes.
Mr. Wood in his letter states that he understands that we have been
asked to "make an investigation of the recent removals in the post office."
This is not quite accurate. We are asked to investigate and see if there has
been any violation of the civil service law. Now, there may be no violation
whatsoever of the present civil service law, and yet things may have been
done which were improper, or which we believe ought to be prohibited by
law, though unfortunately they are not. We would have no power whatso-
ever to investigate into or report on any matters of this kind. Under Mr.
Hughes' invitation we could merely go down and investigate to see if the
law itself had been violated. From the facts you lay before me I doubt if it
has been; and if we should undertake this investigation you might find your-
self in the predicament of having us report that there had been no violation
of the law, which would certainly be accepted by the general public as a
vindication of the postmaster's action, although it might in reality be no
such vindication at all, for we might be satisfied that the actions taken were
improper and yet would have no power under the law to deal with them. I
have asked repeatedly in our reports that we be given power to investigate
the causes of all removals. If we had such power we could go down and
thoroughly investigate as you request, but we do not have such power, and
all the postmaster asks us to do is to go down and see if there have been any
violations of the law. Of course I do not for a moment suspect that there is
any trap in the request to us to investigate, but if there had been such in-
tention of laying a trap for you I think that the proposal to have us investi-
gate alleged violations of the law would be the very best way of springing
it. It is a request for us to go down and investigate violations which, so far
as I can see, have not occurred; this investigation being also urged by the
Civil Service Association itself, urged, I cannot help thinking, under a mis-
apprehension as to the possible scope of the investigation. As the law now
stands the result of such an investigation might be a seemingly clean bill of
health granted after an investigation urged by your Civil Service Reform
Association; and this, although we were convinced that much had been done
which was improper, and which the law ought to, but does not, give us
power to deal with and prohibit. As I say, pray consider this entirely con-
fidential between yourself and Messrs. Wood and MacVeagh.2
1 Stuart Wood, chairman of the executive committee of the Civil Service Reform
Association.
'Isaac Wayne MacVeagh, lawyer, diplomat, political reformer, intimate of many
leading political figures. MacVeagh was Attorney General in Garfield's cabinet, but
his interest in civu service reform led him to support Cleveland in 1892. He was
ambassador to Italy, 1893-1897, and chief counsel for the United States in the Vene-
267
I was much amused with the copy of the letter from Wanamaker. His
inspectors who went down to Baltimore went down with a definite and im-
proper purpose, I have no question. In other words, they occupied precisely
the position of the Commission concerning whose actions you are now hav-
ing difficulty in Philadelphia. I have not seen their report, for they have not
dared to make it public. If it ever comes out I shall tear it open, for I haven't
the slightest fear that it can make any possible showing which will reverse
my statements, save upon fraudulent and improper testimony. Yours sin-
cerely
346 • TO STUART WOOD Roosevelt Mss.
Private & confidential Washington, December 24, 1891
My Dear Sir: Before acceding to your request and undertaking the exam-
ination I should much like you to see Mr. Welsh and ask him to show you
a letter I have just written to him in reference to the subject. Please consider
the letter confidential. The letter from the Philadelphia post office does not
ask us to investigate the recent removals, but to investigate whether there
have been any violations of the law. As you are aware, I do not think that
the law goes nearly far enough in the matter of removals. I think we ought
to have power to investigate any removal and report upon the same to the
President. If we had by law that power I would take this case up in a mo-
ment, but we have not got that power. It may perfectly easily be, under the
present system, that removals are made for improper reasons without viola-
tion of the civil service law. It does not often occur but it does occasionally
occur. Now, I know nothing of the facts in regard to these removals in the
Philadelphia post office, save what I learn from Mr. Welsh. According to his
statements the removals ought not to have been made, and yet it is not shown
that they were made in violation of the civil service law. The Commission,
remember, is invited to Philadelphia simply to investigate any violations of
the kw. If we found that there had been none we could do nothing but re-
port accordingly, entirely regardless of whether we thought that there had
been conduct which ought to be prohibited by law or which we ought to be
given the power to investigate. You might therefore as the result of sending
us an invitation to come down and investigate find that we had to give a
clean bill of health as regards the conduct of the office under the civil service
kw, even if we were ourselves dissatisfied with certain action that had been
taken. I should deem it wise for your Association to look carefully into the
matter and weigh these considerations before requesting us to go on with the
investigation. Find out whether the matter complained of is one dealing with
actual vioktion of the law or not.
zuelan arbitration of 1903. In his private legal work he was closely associated with
the officials of large railroad and steel companies.
268
I need not request you to regard this letter as private and confidential.
I am not writing officially, as I wish to explain to you frankly my views in
the matter before treating your communication as a formal one to our
Commission. Very truly yours
347 • TO RICHARD HENRY DANA Roosevelt
Washington, December 28, 1891
My Dear Dana: Francis E. Leupp,1 the Washington correspondent of the
New York Evening Post, has just been in to see me about something which
he would like me to mention to you. I will preface it by saying that Leupp
is a thorough gentleman, a radical believer in the civil service law and prin-
ciples, and,* on the whole, the best and most trustworthy correspondent I
know in Washington. He wanted to offer for the consideration of the editors
of the civil service reform papers — that is, the Record, Reformer, and
Chronicle — a proposition to consolidate the three papers into one, to be
published here at Washington. He asks if this would not concentrate an
influence now possibly too widely diffused. The present boards of editors
of the three papers could be amalgamated and retain the entire control of
the policy of the paper, while he, Leupp, could act as the manager, and pub-
lish it here in Washington. He thinks this would effect a possible financial
saving, and that as much attention could be paid to local matters in Boston,
Baltimore, and Indianapolis by the supervision of different members of the
Editorial body themselves, while he would be able to get at first hand knowl-
edge of what is going on in Washington. Now, I simply write you this plan
for your consideration as Leupp requested me. I can see both advantages
and disadvantages in it. At any rate it seems a plan worth talking over.
In the course of the next two months or so I presume I will be in Boston,
and will then have a chance to see you in person.
I hardly know what to say about the Appropriations Committee. We
have two or three strong friends on it. On the other hand, Cogswell is on it,
and will doubtless be against us. You remember how bitterly he fought us
last year. Holman will be mad on the subject of petty economy. Personally,
I shall feel that we have done pretty well if we keep things as they are. I
have very little hope indeed of an increase. Cordially yours
1 Francis Ellington Leupp, journalist, at this time chief of the Washington bureau of
the New York Evening rest, and Washington correspondent of the Nation. He also
edited Good Government, die official organ of the National Civil Service Reform
League, 1892-1895.
269
TO GEORGE W. JOLLEY Roosevelt
Washington, January 5, 1892
Dear Sir: * Your letter to the Commission of January ist quotes Mr. Axton2
as telling you that I had written a letter stating that I or some other member
of the Commission would investigate the charges. This is a mistake. My
promise to do so was only conditional. As we have no power to administer
oaths or summon witnesses we can work far less effectively than you can.
However we offered to undertake the investigation ourselves if the President
so desired, and he intimated to us in response that he preferred the action to
be taken by the Department of Justice; so you can see that we are hardly at
liberty to do anything more in the matter now. Did you not receive with
the papers sent you a copy of the letter we wrote to the President? It seems
to me that if you would have this copy of the letter published or such por-
tions of it as you may deem wise it would at once relieve you of any sus-
picion of unfriendliness to either Mr. Scott or Mr. Feland. It would show
that in the opinion of the Commission the facts alleged, unless controverted,
clearly prove the guilt of the men implicated, and would also show that the
Commission desires as rigorous an examination as possible. You are of course
quite at liberty to use the copy of our letter to the President in any way that
you wish. It was sent to you for that purpose. Very respectfully
[Handwritten] P.S. If by good luck I am able in the course of the next
month to get down to Kentucky I shall do myself the honor of calling on
you.
349 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE Roosevelt Mss?
Washington, January 25, 1892
Dear Cecil, When I was in Paris my wife wrote me "Springy has been in
to see me several times; he always comes at once, the moment he thinks we
are in any trouble." This is not a bad reputation to have, old fellow; and it
may help explain the very real sense of loss I felt when I found that you had
gone. Edith and I miss you greatly, and we and all your other friends talk
of you continually and wish very much you were back here. I am sure you
will be back sometime; I hope as minister — but anyhow, come back. You
have left many very warm friends behind.
Henry Adams and John Hay have gone south on a trip with the Cam-
erons. Bob was here the other day, staying with the Lodges. He and Cabot,
on Cabots two horses, and I on old Dick from the riding school, took a long
1 George W. Jolley, United States district attorney for the district embracing
Owensboro, Kentucky, had begun an investigation on the basis of information from
the Civil Service Commission which resulted in the indictment of six revenue officers
for unlawfully soliciting and receiving money for political purposes.
*L. H. Axton of Owensboro had charged federal officials of the Second Internal
Revenue District of Kentucky with permitting the assessment of political funds.
270
ride last Sunday morning. Dick pulls a bit, but he is certainly a big jumper;
he larked over better than four feet of timber with perfect light-heartedness.
I guess he would be rather hot-headed for hunting in cramped country with
a big field, however.
I am now steeped in what Mark Twain would call "a profound French
calm" as regards the Civil Service commission; that is, I have only three or
four active difficulties on hand, and one of these, thank Heaven, is with
democrats. The mugwumps are now having catalepsy over the strong pos-
sibility of Cleveland's defeat for the nomination.
Cabot and his wife are very well; the former often lends me his horse
Egypt, a very nice horse, and we ride around the country together. Of
course we are going out to dinner a good deal now; if Washington can be
said to have a season it is now at it's height. I see a great deal of Tom Reed,
and also of the nice Herberts.
Mrs. Roosevelt, and Ted, send you their best love. With warm regards
Always faithfzMy your friend
350-10 JOSEPH MULVEY Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, February 10, 1892
My Dear Sir: I have just received your kind letter on my return to Wash-
ington. As a Government officer, however, holding a commission from the
President, it would be improper for me, or for my colleagues, to communi-
cate with him except officially, so that we cannot sign the petition you
present. However we will all three make a report to the President urgently
requesting the extension on the lines you propose. As a matter of fact we
have recommended it in our annual report, in which, by the way, we re-
ferred to the step that you gentlemen took, emphasizing our pleasure in
what you had done. I strongly recommend you however not only to get
your own people to sign it, but to go to President Seth Low, of Columbia
College, for instance, and a number of other gentlemen of the same kind and
ask them to head your list. I mention Seth Low's name, as it is one that will
carry weight. If it were possible to get some other prominent citizens, such
as Bishop Corrigan and Bishop Potter, Joseph Choate and other men of like
prominence to sign your petition it \vould have great effect. I earnestly hope
that you will be able to do this. You will of course be quite welcome to
show this letter to these gentlemen when you ask them to sign the petition.
Yours truly
3 5 I • TO CHARLES B. WILBY Roosevelt MsS.
Private Washington, February 27, 1892
My Dear Sir: As soon as the affidavits arrive I shall examine them carefully.
The course you speak of as being employed, namely, that of enforcing se-
271
verely against one set of employes rules which are not practically enforced
against another set, is one which, I am sorry to say, I have known to be
followed in more than one post office where there was a desire to work
around the law. I greatly regret that we are not given outright the power to
look into removals in all cases. We have asked repeatedly that such power be
given to us. Until we receive such power it will be absolutely impossible for
us to see that exact justice is done. We will be able to hamper the actions of
the spoilsmen, and where we ourselves have the immediate supervision of the
offices as here in the departments at Washington we will be able to see that
practically exact justice is done; but much injustice will always be com-
mitted in outlying offices until we are given a more complete power of
supervision than we have at present.
Can you give me any idea of the number of removals that have so far
been made in the Cincinnati post office? If they are at all great I will have
our Chief Examiner go down to look into them, or else I will look into them
myself. It is of course always important in these cases to find out how large
a percentage of the old employes are being turned out. Yours truly
3 5 2 • TO JOHN PROCTOR CLARKE Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 7, 1892
Dear Sir: First. By turning to page 80 of the last report of the Civil Service
Commission you will see the reasons for not allowing applicants already in
the service to apply for entrance examinations to positions to which they
would be eligible under the promotion regulations.
Second. The reasons actuating the Commission are set forth on the same
page. We believe that it is contrary to public policy to permit such a course
to be followed. A man who is in the service has a chance to be promoted
to the higher grades if the appointing officer thinks him fit for it on passing
through the intermediate grades. We believe that having this chance it is not
necessary to give him any other.
Third. By reading through the law you will find that we are empowered
to make both rules and regulations («Sec. z.» First & Third) so there can be
no question as to any warrant of law in the matter. For a considerable period
this regulation has been in force in the departmental and postal services. Our
experience with Mr. Spencer and others in the examination you investigated
was quite sufficient to convince me, if there had been any further need of
being convinced, of the wisdom of applying such a rule rigorously in the
customs service. As a matter of experience, we have found that it has tended
to work badly to have men allowed to skip grades in promotion by taking
examinations for high positions when they are already in the service. A great
many appointing officers complained to us in the old days about this being
done. Our aim is to make the entrance at the lowest grade and have the men
272
promoted regularly up from grade to grade, and we are striving to do away
with any exceptions to this rule.
If I have not made myself clear I trust you will write me again. I am
anxious to give you yourself any information I can on the subject. I may as
well say, however, as far as any further agitation of the question in the Dis-
trict is concerned I don't care a rap. A very considerable portion of the mem-
bers of the Association showed by their action towards your report that
they were actuated purely by a spirit of dishonest hostility to the law; and
this being the case I propose to give them no favor whatsoever in the way
of explanation, for it would be entirely useless to do so. Simply let them
go ahead, and I will whip them out every time. Yours truly
353 -TO OLIVER T. MORTON Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 25, 1892
My Dear Mr. Morton: * Allen2 is to appear in person before me and testify.
Of course the whole matter will be ultimately laid before the Department of
Justice, and when that is done I presume it will no longer be necessary for
you to take the initiative. Before doing so in any event I should think over
it very seriously. There is often not only the question of guilt to be con-
sidered, but the possibility or probability of conviction. I don't want to see
an attempt made to secure a conviction and fail, if it can be avoided, for I
think such a failure could hurt us very seriously. I have had some very
curious talks since I came back here, and I don't believe that I will be al-
lowed to make my report public, at any rate for some time after it is written.
I shall keep you advised of all steps taken and of as much of the progress of
the event as I am at liberty to speak of.
Be sure that you remember to look me up whenever you come east. I am
sorry to say I do not know about Randolph's skinny finger. Why don't you
write to Henry Adams about it?
Undoubtedly, Benton was marvelously well informed concerning current
political matters. I quite agree with you that his sins consisted of «omission»
rather than misstatement. Cordially yours
354 • TO THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 27, 1892
Gentlemen: In accordance with the direction of the Commission I visited
Chicago on April 1 2th to investigate an alleged attempt to assess Government
employes for political purposes in defiance of the civil service law. The com-
1 Oliver T. Morton, clerk of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, Chicago.
•Edward Payson Allen, Republican congressman from Michigan, 1887-1891. Morton
had accused Allen of soliciting funds for the Republican party from him and other
federal employees in Chicago. See No. 354.
plaint was made by the Chicago Qvil Service Reform Association on a state-
ment by Oliver T. Morton, Clerk of the United States Circuit Court of
Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. I inclose a copy of Mr. Morton's affidavit
and copies of the testimony of David «B.» Shanahan, Assistant Custodian of
the Custom House and Barge Office at Chicago, of Lemuel O. Oilman, Mar-
shal of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, and of Frank Hitchcock,
United States Marshal for the Northern District of Illinois. I examined
Messrs. Shanahan, Gilman and Hitchcock in the Federal building at Chicago
in the company of Mr. James Norton, the president of the Civil Service
Reform Association of that city. I also inclose a copy of the affidavit of Ex-
Congressman Edward P. Allen, of Michigan, against whom the charge was
made, this affidavit being taken in the Commission's office on April 2 5th.
It appears that on the 4th of March last Mr. Allen was in Chicago repre-
senting the Republican National Campaign Committee for the purpose of
making inquiries about the political situation and of conferring with prom-
inent Republicans of that city in reference to the plan of the campaign in
the approaching election, and in reference to the collection of funds. While
in the city he visited the Federal Building for the purpose of conferring with
some of the higher officials there. He brought along a printed copy of a
general letter of the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mr.
Clarkson, apparently using this letter as in the nature of credentials. It ap-
pears, however, that this letter contained some allusion to the need of funds
to carry out the work of the committee, and a statement as to where such
funds could be sent. It appears that Mr. Allen did not show this letter to
those Federal officials with whom he was personally acquainted, as to Col.
. . . , the postmaster. It does not appear that Mr. Allen spoke to any of the
subordinates in the office as to the collection of funds, or as to any other
subject; nor is there any testimony whatsoever that any subordinate em-
ploye in the Federal Building has been requested directly or indirectly to
make any contribution for any political purposes, or has so contributed. The
charge is that Mr. Allen did, directly or indirectly, solicit subscriptions from
Messrs. Hitchcock, Gilman, Shanahan and Morton. The witnesses Shanahan,
Hitchcock and Gilman were evidently strong friends of Mr. Allen. It
appears that when he saw them he had come into room 57, the marshal's
office; that his conversation was almost exclusively addressed to Marshal
Hitchcock, Mr. Gilman only putting in a few words now and then, and
Mr. Shanahan going in and out during the interview. Mr. Shanahan testifies
that he did not hear a word said about funds while he was in the room. Mr.
Hitchcock and Mr. Allen both testify that it was Mr. Hitchcock himself
who first broached the subject of funds, Mr. Allen apparently doing nothing
more than to answer some remarks of Mr. Hitchcock. Mr. Gilman was the
only man present at this interview whose testimony reflects at all upon Mr.
Allen. He testifies that the question of contributions to the campaign fund
was talked of in a general way by Mr. Allen and Marshal Hitchcock, and
274
that Mr. Allen mentioned where the contributions could be sent if any
were made. On the other hand, he also says specifically that Mr. Allen did
not broach the subject of making the contributions, and that he did not
solicit anything in the shape of money.
It does not seem to me that in a court of law a case could be made out
against Mr. Allen on the testimony of these three witnesses. It would appear
that what Mr. Allen said to them on the question of contributions was
merely to answer a question of Marshal Hitchcock by stating where any
contributions could be sent.
It is, of course, unfortunate, in view of the provisions of the izth section
of the Civil Service Act that even a conversation of this character should
have been held in a Government building.
The affidavit of Mr. Morton and the affidavit of Mr. Allen as to the
interview between these two gentlemen stand in flat contradiction to each
other. Mr. Morton says that Mr. Allen's interview with him amounted to a
pointed and positive solicitation for funds for campaign purposes. Mr. Allen,
on the contrary, says that he did not, directly or indirectly, solicit any funds
from him whatsoever; that he asked for no contribution whatever, and used
no language that would bear the construction that he did ask for any.
It seems to me, therefore, that any prosecution would have to rest upon
the testimony of Mr. Morton, which is met by the flat denial of Mr. Allen,
and is corroborated only by the fact that Mr. Allen (the agent of the Re-
publican National Committee) had, in the building, been talking of cam-
paign funds, and had shown an open letter in which there appears to have
been some allusion to these funds. I question if under these circumstances
the prosecution could be pushed to a successful conclusion, and it would
most certainly be unadvisable to request legal proceedings which could not
be fully sustained. I suggest that all the papers in the case be turned over to
the Department of Justice, for such action as it may see fit to take. Very
respectfully
354A • TO THOMAS RAYNESFORD LOUNSBURY RoOSevelt M.SS.
April 28, 1892
My Dear Mr. Lounsbury: The praise of a layman can count but little in
relation to a book on a subject requiring special and peculiar knowledge.
Still, I cannot refrain from writing you to tell you how much I have en-
joyed your "Chaucer." Of course there were parts that would appeal most
to the professed scholar of Chaucer's works, but much the greater part of
each of your three volumes cannot but please even the multitude like
myself, not only because of the extremely interesting matter which they
contain, but because of the delightful style in which they are written. But
having just reread Chaucer in consequence of your book, I must protest a
little against some of his tales, on the score of cleanliness. It seems to me
275
that the {Friar's Tale and) prologue to the Sompnour's tale, and the tale
itself, for instance, are very nearly indefensible. There are parts of them
which will be valuable to the student of the manners of the age simply from
the historical standpoint, but as literature I don't think they have a redeem-
ing feature. On the other hand, I must confess that it was only on account
of what you had said that I ever cared for the prologue to the tale of the
wife of Bath and the tale itself. I have always regarded them with extreme
disfavor, knowing that, as a matter of fact, among the men I knew, of every
ten who had read them nine had done so for improper reasons; but after
reading what you said I took them up and read them from a changed point
of view, and am now a convert to your ideas.
Did you see the Atlantic review of your book? I was much amused at
the start of horror the reviewer gave at your eminently wise proposition in
relation to the modernization of the spelling. Your touch about the extra
"u" in words like honor was delicious.
By the way, I was a little irritated at the extreme colonialism of Harper**
Weekly in congratulating you, and America generally, upon the favorable
article in the Saturday Review.
Hoping soon to have the pleasure of meeting you again, I am, Cordially
yours
355 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE RoOSevelt
Washington, May 3, 1892
Very nice, but very bad, Springy, what will become of you if you waste
your substance «on» gorgeous gifts to riotous American friends? Seriously,
we think your present one of the handsomest we have ever received; it is
beautiful; I like it even more than the Lodges cranes. It will hold the place
of honor at Sagamore Hill; may it not be too long e'er the donor sees it
there! Of course the children are enthralled with it. Last evening Ted, after
gazing silently at it, suddenly remarked of his own accord that he wanted
to send you a kiss because you brought him flowers when he was sick, and
that he wanted you to come back very soon and stay with us — a wish in
which we all heartily join.
I have been passing a good deal of my time — a third — away from
Washington this winter, on investigations etc. One of them took me down
to Texas, and I then got off for six days, went down to some ranches in the
semi tropical country round the Nueces, and hunted peccaries. I killed two.
It was great fun, for we followed them on horseback, with hounds — such
hounds! — and the little beasts fought with the usual stupid courage of pigs
when brought to bay. They ought to be killed with a spear; the country is
so thick, with huge cactus and thorny mesquite trees, that the riding is hard;
but they are small, and it would be safe to go at them on foot — at any rate
for two men.
276
Cabot and I have been riding a good deal, on his two horses. The woods
are now in the first flush of their beauty; the leaves a tender green, the dog-
woods and Judas Trees in bloom.
Did you see Joel Chandler Harris'es new book "On the Plantation"?
It is very good. I am also very much pleased with Kiplings new edition of
his poems; it contains several favorites of mine which I had never before
seen except in the newspapers. I have been reading Chaucer with industry
lately, and as I gradually become used to his language I get to enjoy him
more and more; but I must say I think he is altogether needlessly filthy —
such a tale as the "Sompnours" for instance is unpardonable, and indeed
unreadable.
Henry Adams is exactly the same as ever; we dine with him tomorrow
night. John Hay still has for his idols James G. Elaine and Henry James Jr
— a combination which indicates a wide range of appreciation. Cabot is in
great form, and I begin to think there really is some chance of his making
the Senatorship. As for me I am involved in my usual array of struggles,
Wannamaker officiating with his customary obliging readiness as head devil
and awful object lesson.
Good bye, old fellow! I'll let you know from time to time how we're
getting on. Good luck to you! Your friend
356 • TO OLIVER T. MORTON Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, May 5, 1892
My Dear Mr. Morton: My report with all the testimony is now in the hands
of the Department of Justice. As I have declined Mr. Allen's request to give
him a copy of my report I scarcely feel at liberty to furnish one to you.
I had a long discussion with Mr. Foulke before making my report, and I
think I may say that he agreed in the substantial wisdom of the report as
made.
I have been extremely annoyed at the publicity given to the case in the
press. I cannot imagine how it got out, except that I know Marshal Hitch-
cock undoubtedly furnished the first information to the reporters.
I am glad to send you herewith a copy of all the testimony. Of course I
now have no objection whatsoever to your using your matter as you see fit.
I send you herewith my report on cases of alleged violation in the New
York custom house of the law against assessments, made about two years
ago. I wish you would read carefully pages 9 to 12, inclusive. I want you
to do this so that you may understand the action the Commission thinks
wisest in this class of cases. We have been very cautious in requesting indict-
ment, against any man, no matter what our individual beliefs were, unless
we felt we could establish a case where there was every probability of suc-
cess. By turning to this New York case, in the matter of Brown and of the
277
others against whom there were only one or two witnesses, you will see how
cautious we have been. Yet, in spite of all our caution, we have not yet suc-
ceeded in getting a conviction; and in this New York matter, McGee, against
whom the evidence was, in my opinion, almost conclusive, was not even
indicted. Rafferty was indeed indicted, but his case has never been brought
to trial. We are very desirous, especially in view of certain recent develop-
ments in regard to our Baltimore report, that we shall have an absolutely
impregnable case when we affirmatively request action.
In conclusion, however, I wish to state that I feel that very great good
has come from the discussion of this case. I believe it has emphasized in a
way which otherwise would not be possible the danger to which any man
will subject himself by soliciting contributions or taking action which can
be so construed. It certainly produced a great flurry in the "dove cote."
Very truly yours
357 -TO OSBOKNE HOWES Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, May 5, 1892
My Dear Sir: I have just received your letter and the cut of the editorial,
for which please accept my thanks. I was already familiar with the editorial.
It is a little difficult to answer you, my dear sir, when you ask for my
candid opinion of the editorial, taken as a whole, without seeming to use
harsh language. Yet, as you have requested an answer, and as I can answer
but in one way, I will say that it does seem to me that the views expressed
in that editorial are very, very unfortunate and I should feel a pretty lively
despair of the future of our country if I believed that these views had ob-
tained any great currency among our best classes. I think them especially
dangerous because of the character of the constituency which is appealed
to through so influential a paper as the Boston Herald. As far as the school
question is concerned would you permit me to refer you to an excellent
article on the youthful tenement house population of New York, written by
Mr. Jacob Riis,1 in the last Scribner's, if I remember right? He therein inci-
dentally mentions the use of the flag in our schools, and I think shows very
clearly what a good thing it is. If there is one thing more than another which
we need to have impressed upon the children of immigrants who come hither
it is that they must forget their Old World national antipathies and become
purely Americanized, and in no way can this result be better achieved than
by teaching them early a genuine and fervid devotion to the flag. I very
1 Jacob August Riis arrived in this country from Denmark at the age of twenty-one
in 1870. A penniless immigrant, he moved from job to job in New York until in 1877
he found his life work as a newspaper reporter. From 1888 to 1899 he was the police
reporter for the Evening Sun. In this capacity he saw intimately all the sordid hor-
rors of tenement existence. Some of these he put into his famous book How the
Other Half Lives (New York, 1890). When Roosevelt was Police Commissioner the
two, so similar in exuberance, energy, and moral zeal, formed a close friendship.
278
firmly believe that if you could persuade our people that the flag is nothing
but a mere textile fabric, and that there should be no acceptance of it as a
symbol and ideal that you would have gone a long \vay to darken the future
of this country. We emphatically do want to get rid of all foreign influence.
We want to make our children feel, as they ought to feel, that the mere
fact of being American citizens makes them better off than if they were citi-
zens of any European country. This is not to blind us at all to our own
shortcomings; we ought steadily to try to correct them; but we have abso-
lutely no ground to work on if we don't have a firm and ardent American-
ism at the bottom of everything. It may possibly be that patriotism is only
a middle stage in the development of mankind precisely as it may possibly
be that this is true of property and marriage. Mr. Winwood Reade,2 for
instance, very strongly insisted in his later scientific works that the custom
of monogamous marriage was reprehensible and showed great selfishness,
and that as the race became really unselfish it would drop it. I need hardly
mention the innumerable men, of excellent intentions, who believe that
property is theft. At the same time, as things now are, I regard the man who
holds up to admiration adultery and robbery, for instance, as being but an
indifferent moral teacher. In the same way, I feel that the lack of patriotism
shows an absolutely fatal defect in any national character. I don't think that
the present age is in danger of suffering from too little breadth in its estimate
of humanity. I think, on the contrary, that we suffer altogether too much
from the ill-regulated milk and water philanthropy which makes us degrade
or neglect our own people by paying too much attention to the absolutely
futile task of trying to raise humanity at large. Our business is with our own
nation, with our own people. If we can bring up the United States we are
doing well; yet we can't bring it up unless we teach its citizens to regard
the country, and the flag which symbolizes that country, with the most
genuine fervor of enthusiastic love. Frankly, I think that the denationalized
philanthropist who does not regard his country in a different way from the
way he regards all other countries is in a fair way to lose all the robuster
virtues. If he thinks his country is not as good as some other countries let
him go and live in one of the latter; but if he believes, as I believe, and as
I feel most people who live here do and ought to believe, that America is,
on the whole, a notch higher in the scale than any other country, and an
infinite number of notches higher than most other countries, he had better
allow his feelings to have fair expression. I do not think that there is any-
thing that so tends to minimize the influence of the highly educated classes
in this country as does the queer lack of Americanism which occasionally
appears among them. From Washington and Lincoln to Parkman and
Lowell no man has ever been able to do a stroke of work worth doing who
* William Winwood Reade, British traveler, novelist and controversialist; a nephew
of Charles Reade. He enlivened the periods between publication of his novels with
books attacking Catholicism and other forms of religion.
279
did not do it merely purely as an American, and at a time when he was
saturated through and through with the most ultra- American spirit of patri-
otism.
With great respect, Very truly yours
358-TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT
Washington, May 7, 1892
My Dear Mr. Swift: I send you herewith a copy of a report I made two
years ago on certain alleged cases of political assessment in the New York
custom house, the parties being Democrats. I would like you to read pages
9 to 12 pretty carefully. You will there see that I got what I considered
pretty straight evidence against half a dozen men, and what I still, and
always will, think absolutely conclusive evidence against two. I acted as I
always act in these cases, with great caution, and turned the whole evidence
over to the Department of Justice, recommending strongly the indictment
of two men. I got only one of these indicted; and he has never even been
tried. Until you have been in this position yourself I don't think you can
understand the extreme difficulty of getting these cases prosecuted. The dis-
trict attorneys are as a rule very lukewarm and feel, as I think wrongly, that
the public has no interest in them. I can now think of but one exception to
this statement, and that is the District Attorney in Kentucky, Mr. Jolley. I
do wish you could signal him out for special mention in your paper. He
has done admirable work in getting six men indicted for violation of the law
in connection with collecting assessments for the Republican conventions
last summer. I don't believe we will be able to get these six men convicted,
but we have done well in getting them indicted at all. Every case I present
to the Department of Justice I have to have worked up so that there can be
no possible doubt in the mind of any reasonable man as to the parties' guilt.
By turning to the pamphlet I send you you will see how careful I am in
recommending the prosecution of men even when I have got two witnesses
against them. I always feel that I must be ready to defend my action and to
show conclusively that I was right in recommending the prosecution; and
even in spite of exercising such care, as I said before, we have never yet
gotten a conviction in the matter; and not more than one in three, or there-
abouts, of the men whose indictment I have recommended has been actually
indicted. This Baltimore business has been merely another example of what
I already knew, namely, that I have to be sure that every recommendation
I make of any kind or sort can be backed by the most satisfactory evidence.
It would be irritating if it were not amusing to see the eagerness with which
so many of the people here in power watch to catch me tripping in any
recommendation, and their desire to find me making some recommendation,
whether for removal or indictment, which I cannot sustain.
280
I am very sorry you could not get on to Baltimore. I particularly wished
to see you. Very sincerely yours
359 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed'1
Washington, May 13, 1892
Dear Cabot, Good; your letter to E. is admirable. On reaching the office I
found several newspaper men to whom I refused to say a word; and several
of Wanamaker's papers (the Baltimore American, for instance) containing
accounts of his testimony.2 I am keeping cool; but, I confess, with difficulty.
Elkins has just telephoned me that he wishes to see me at four this p. m. I
shall drop in later to see you; on your return from your ride. Do ask Hop-
kins8 to drop in to see me. Ask him if he can't get in tomorrow, between 1 1
and 12 if possible; but let him telephone me now, and appoint his own hour.
Yours
360 • TO JOHN WANAMAKER Printed1
Washington, May 16, 1892
Sir: In the report of your inspectors on the Baltimore Post Office, submitted
by you to the Committee of the House, these inspectors state that my inves-
tigation was 'unfair and partial in the extreme'; that my questions were 'cal-
culated to deceive and mislead, such as no committee of investigation, hunt-
ing for nothing but the truth and desirous of doing exact justice, would
practise or allow'; and that my report on the Postmaster's conduct was not
1 Lodge, I, 121.
* At tiiis time the House Committee on Reform in the Civil Service was investigating
the condition of the Baltimore post office. In March 1891 Roosevelt had gone to
Baltimore to watch a local election which was violently contested between two fac-
tions of the Republican party — one led by Postmaster Johnson and U.S. Marshal
Airey — the other by rival candidates for the postmastership and marshalship. Roose-
velt discovered evidences of fraud and undue use of official influence. He recom-
mended the removal of twenty-five federal office holders. Neither Wanamaker nor
Harrison seemed disposed to act on the recommendation. Roosevelt gave interviews
to the press, spoke vituperatively against Wanamaker at a meeting of the Civil Serv-
ice Reform League in New York, and got Carl Schurz interested in the question.
Finally, on April 19, 1892, the House moved to investigate the situation. A bitter
exchange between Wanamaker and Roosevelt took place before the committee, a
majority of whom finally found in favor of Roosevelt. The real value of the investi-
gation lay in the favorable publicity given die commission for its work.
•Albert Jarvis Hopkins, Republican congressman from Illinois, 1885-1903, and sena-
tor, 1903-1909.
1 There is no copy of this letter in the Roosevelt Collection. It is given here as printed
in the Washington Post, May 25, 1892. On the morning of the same day Roosevelt
appeared before the House Civil Service Committee, charging that on Monday, May
1 6th, he had sent Wanamaker a registered letter, and had not received the answer
he demanded. He therefore wanted to withdraw his former recommendation of
leniency for the Baltimore postmaster, Johnson, and his colleagues.
281
only unjustifiable but 'malicious.' These are reflections not only on my
actions, but on my motives. There is no need of commenting on their gross
impertinence and impropriety, used as they are by the subordinates of one
department in reference to one of the heads of another, who is, like your-
self, responsible to the President only. But I have nothing to do with these
subordinates. It is with you, the official head, responsible for their action,
that I have to deal. By submitting this report, without expressly disclaiming
any responsibility for it, you seem to assume that responsibility and make it
your own. I can hardly suppose that this was your intention, but I shall be
obliged to treat these statements which in any way reflect upon my acts and
motives as yours, unless you disavow them with the same publicity with
which they were made to the Committee. I therefore respectfully ask you
whether you will or will not make such disavowal, so that I may govern
myself accordingly, and not be guilty of any injustice. Yours truly
361 • TO BENJAMIN HARRISON RoOSCVelt MsS.
Washington, May 17, 1892
Sir: I regret much that it has finally become necessary for me to send to the
Postmaster General a letter, a copy of which I herewith inclose. The letter
explains itself. I have used every effort to avoid a conflict with the Post
Office Department. It has now become merely a question of maintaining my
own self-respect and upholding the civil service law.
With the utmost confidence that you will recognize the propriety of my
action, I have the honor to be, With great respect
361 A • TO FRANCIS PARKMAN Parkman Mss.Q
Washington, May 22, 1892
My dear Mr Parkman, I thank you sincerely for the two volumes. It is diffi-
cult, my dear sir, to say anything about them without seeming to use over-
strained language. It must have been rather hard for any one to whom
Gibbon, for instance, sent his work to find perfectly fit words to use in
acknowledging the gift.
Looking over the recent census figures for New England it is curious,
and rather melancholy, to see the strange revenge which time is bringing to
the French of Canada. They are swarming into New England with ominous
rapidity. Of course they will conform to and keep our laws, and in most
places our language, though I should not be surprised to see French become
the tongue of occasional counties in the north, and possibly even of one or
two manufacturing towns. But their race will in many places supplant the
old American stock; and I am inclined to believe that in a generation or two
more, Catholicism, though in a liberalized form, will become the predomi-
nant creed in several of the Puritan commonwealths. Yet I am a firm be-
282
liever that the future will somehow bring things right in the end for our
land.
Again thanking you, I am Very cordially yours
362 • TO HORACE F. JOHNSON RoOSevelt M.SS.
Washington, May 27, 1892
Dear Sir: If the papers report me as you say, they report me entirely errone-
ously. What I said was in answer to the charge that I had gone down to
Baltimore hostile to the office holders there and determined to report against
them. I mentioned the fact that I had always been inclined to like Marshal
Airey up to the time of my visit to Baltimore, and that it was with great
reluctance that I was forced to report against him as I did. I stand by my
report in its entirety, as I said to the people there. Yours truly
363 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.Q
Washington, May 27, 1892
Darling Bye, It was dear of you to write me; and I appreciated your note
so much. I showed all the forbearance I could; and finally when I had to
strike I made up my mind to strike hard. I do'n't know whether Wanna-
maker will try conclusions again or not; and I do'n't much care.
What is the matter at West's? Who has the scarlet fever? Do write us
particulars, as Edith naturally feels a little nervous, and we want to warn
the by no means too intelligent George to avoid all possible risk of con-
tagion. I do not feel confident in West's taking all the precautions himself
— poor, dear old fellow. I hate to write even so slight a censure as this about
him, in all his trouble, but we must be careful for the children. How did
they behave while with you?
Love to Bob. Yours
364 • TO JOHN FORRESTER ANDREW RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, May 31, 1892
Sir: *• When I was last before your Committee Mr. Raines2 requested me if
possible to furnish the Committee Mr. Rose's3 letters to the Commission sent
to us before the investigation of the Baltimore post office. I am happy to say
that after talking the matter over with Mr. Lyman and writing to Air. Rose
*John Forrester Andrew, at this time chairman of the Committee on Reform in
the Civil Service.
•John Raines, Republican congressman from New York, 1889-1893.
8 John Carter Rose, Baltimore jurist and reformer. He was at this time counsel for
the Reform League. Later he was appointed district attorney by McKinley, and dis-
trict judge by Taft.
283
I am now able not only to furnish you the letters, which it appears I had
returned to Mr. Rose, but also to give you definitely, as I could not give
when I was before you, the precise dates upon which the conversations took
place and the letters were received.
On March 24, 1891, Mr. Rose, being in Washington on professional busi-
ness, called at the office of the Commission and told us of information which
had reached him on the preceding Friday as to an attempt to collect sub-
scriptions for political purposes in the custom house. He also stated that he
had information leading him to believe that the Federal offices were to be
used by the postmaster, the marshal, and the collector of the port to influ-
ence the primary election about to be held in Baltimore, on March 3oth. He
urgently requested me to come over as soon as possible, naming Saturday as
the date he would choose, and advising me not to give anyone warning, as
he was convinced that if I would do as he advised I would be able to get at
all the facts in the case; whereas if I waited until everything had been done
and the primaries were a thing of the past I might find it far more difficult
to obtain accurate and truthful information. With this view I heartily con-
curred, it being obviously a sensible one. As a result of our conversation it
was determined that he should send to the Commission the information
in writing, and that I would, if on further consideration the Commission
thought it expedient, go over to Baltimore as soon as possible to begin the
investigation, or at least to make inquiry to determine whether there should
be an investigation or not. Two days afterwards, on the 26th, I received the
following letter from Mr. Rose:
Baltimore, March 25th 1891.
Hon. Theodore Roosevelt,
U. S. Civil Service Commissioner,
Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir: — Rumors, for the absolute truth of which I cannot vouch but which
are credible and in the substantial truth of which I believe, have reached me that
a more or less systematic effort has been made and perhaps is still being made to
levy and collect an assessment upon the employees of the custom house and post
office in this city towards paying the expenses of one of the Republican factions
at the primary elections to be held on Monday next. A subscription paper for
such purpose was carried around the custom house building. To now many per-
sons it was presented and by whom I have not been informed, although I believe
that the person carrying it around was in the Government service. It was presented
to Mr. Sewell Plummer who refused to contribute and who warned the person
presenting it that he was violating the law. A judicious examination of Mr. Plum-
mer would, I have reason to believe, elicit the truth of this statement and doubtless
would open some clues as to the identity of the person who violated the law by
soliciting the contribution in the Government building.
It is further reported that at the time the list was presented to Mr. Plummer
the name of C. H. Ray, a weigher in the custom house, was on it as a contributor.
It is also stated that one William P. Kimball, a Government employee, pre-
sided at a meeting of Government employees at which a collection to pay the
expenses of the primaries was taken up, although he refused to contribute.
It is further alleged that one J. Philip Sindall, an employee in the post office,
solicited a contribution for the purpose from one Joseph C. Fosler, a carrier in
the post office. Fosler refused to contribute.
In addition to these charges of alleged violations of the law prohibiting the
soliciting or contributing of money for political purposes in Government build-
ings or by Government employees from or to other Government employees, a
charge has reached me that a threat to dismiss a post office employee, although not
in the classified service, was made the means of controlling the political actions
of two other persons, friends of the employee in question, but who were not
themselves in the Government employ. The facts as they are stated to me are that
C. H. Johnson of S. Bethel Street and R. H. Harris of 314 S. Caroline Street, both
colored, had agreed to go on the ticket opposed to U. S. Marshal Airey and Post-
master Johnson, as delegates from the Third ward, in which both the officials
mentioned reside. When such fact became known one J. Wilson, an employee
under Postmaster Johnson in the latter's capacity of Custodian of the Post Office
building, prevailed upon Johnson and Harris to go to the post office to see Messrs.
Johnson and Airey. On their return from the post office they withdrew their
consent to have their names put upon the ticket, stating that they had been in-
formed that if they took any active part against Messrs. Johnson and Airey their
friend Wilson would be discharged from the Government service.
These and similar rumors are so. generally believed that an investigation would
seem to be called for. If made at all it should be made at once.
Very sincerely,
(Signed) John C. Rose
I then consulted at length with my colleagues, Mr. Lyman and Mr.
Thompson, as to what course we should follow, and it was decided that I
should make the investigation if it was to be made, but we did not fully
decide whether it should be made. On the morning of the 28th, however,
on reaching the office I found the following letter from Mr. Rose:
Baltimore, March lyth, 1891.
Hon. Theodore Roosevelt,
U. S. Civil Service Commissioner
Dear Sir: —
In addition to the matters mentioned in mine of the 25th instant, I have since
learned the following:
A subscription paper to cover the expenses of the primaries was carried around
among post office employees by one Frederick Hammond. This paper was pre-
sented by Hammond to one John G. Ashton, a fireman in the post office. Ham-
mond asked Ashton for five dollars and showed him the list which showed that
John F. Thomas, Superintendent of the Registry Division, had given $10, George
Sears, a letter carrier, $5, George W. Johnson, stamp clerk, $5, etc. Ashton did
not pay at the time, but subsequently did pay and got from Hammond a receipt
for it, which receipt he will produce if asked. James O. Weber, a letter carrier,
has stated that he understood that each carrier was to give five dollars. An exami-
nation of him would doubtless show just why he so understood.
Noah R. Pierson, an engineer in the post office, was another collector and was
approached by John F. Thomas, Superintendent of Registry Division, to know
whether Ashton had paid five dollars yet.
William Fensley, a custom house employee, attended the meeting at which
William P. Kimball presided, and contributed $10.
Very truly,
(signed) John C. Rose
285
On showing this to my colleagues, and after a brief consultation, it was
decided that I should go down to Baltimore at once; and the order was
entered on the minutes accordingly. I started immediately, having tele-
graphed to Rose, and went to his office as soon as I reached Baltimore.
There I received from him considerable additional information, and I be-
lieve I saw also two or three of the men who had given him this information.
I think that at the time I met one or two other members of the Civil Service
Reform Association, and then that I then met Bonaparte, with whom I went
around and began the examination, Rose being unable to go with me. From
time to time during the investigation Mr. Rose communicated to me such
information as happened to reach him, but as a matter of fact it turned out
that he knew in advance very little of most of the specific violations of kw
which the investigation revealed.
Trusting that this information is what you wish, I am, Yours truly
365 • TO JAMES BRAKDER MATTHEWS MattheiVS
Washington, May 31, 1892
Dear Brander, I am very sorry you should be having such trouble about the
measles. I suppose it does knock our lunch on the head; but at least I shall
see you later on. When do you leave New York? I want to see if I can't
arrange to meet you.
I have just finished, with sweat and tears, my article for Howells dealing
with Repplier and others.1
I hope it is true that Kipling is not to be admitted to the Players. There
is no earthly reason he should not call New York a pig trough; but there
is also no reason why he should be allowed to associate with the pigs. I fear
he is at bottom a cad.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Matthews. I liked both the Page and the
Jewett articles you refer to very much. Yours always
366 • TO JAMES T. BEACH Roosevelt
Washington, June 3, 1892
Sir: x I will immediately ky your letter before the Commission, and I pre-
sume that in view of the circumstantiality with which you make oath to the
facts the Commission will order an investigation.2 We are obliged, how-
1 Theodore Roosevelt, "A Colonial Survival," Cosmopolitan Magazine, 14:229-236
(December 1892), Nat. Ed. XH, 300-316. In this article Roosevelt vigorously attacked,
among others, Agnes Repplier for her pacifism and her derived idea that Qvil War
poetry was "doggerel." Whatever her limitations as a sociologist and critic, she was
a familiar essayist of rare charm and insight.
1 James T. Beach, United States Commissioner, Western District of Missouri.
2 The Republican politicians in St. Joseph, Missouri, required post office employees
to join the local Republican club and pay dues. Roosevelt stopped this evasion of
the law.
286
ever, to economize both time and money, and we will undoubtedly plan for
whoever undertakes the investigation (and I presume it will be myself) to
visit St. Joe at the same time that we make a tour of some other offices in
the west, so that it may be a few weeks before I can get out. I will certainly
call on you for full information, and I will do all I can to see that no em-
ploye who was coerced into contributing is molested in any way.
I need not impress upon you the desirability of keeping the proposed
investigation absolutely quiet. Nothing would tend more to defeat it than
having it published in advance; whereas if I can get out and come down on
the post office before it has any warning I shall probably be able to find
out the facts as to the guilt or innocence of the accused parties without diffi-
culty. Yours truly
367 • TO N. B. PEARCE RoOSevelt
Washington, June 3, 1892
Sir: In answer to your letter asking why your son was not appointed when
Mr. Stark, his former teacher, was, and stating that in your opinion the
examination was a farce, and that the appointment was given Mr. Stark and
refused your son because the former was a Republican and the latter a
Democrat, I have the honor to say that your letter is the first intimation the
Commission has received as to the politics of either of the candidates. Mr.
Stark was appointed in '88, while Mr. Cleveland was President. It is there-
fore quite obvious that he could not have been appointed because he was a
Republican. He had an average of 88. Your son had an average of 75, which
is low. The examination would indeed be a farce if a man passing it poorly
had as good a chance as a man who passed it very well. During the time
your son was on the Arkansas register no man was appointed with as low
an average as he had.
The other Stark to whom you refer is now on our register with an aver-
age of 85. He has certainly not acquired residence in Arkansas for the pur-
pose of taking this examination, as it appears that in 1888, 1889, 1890, and
1891, he had a fruit ranch at Silver Springs, Benton Co., Arkansas; and we
have the official voucher of the clerk of the Benton County Court that Mr.
Stark has been for three years and eight months a resident of that county.
He has not yet been appointed from our register, but standing as high as he
does he has a fair chance. If you have any idea that you have not been
treated fairly you can get your Congressman or anyone else whom you
wish to come down here and examine the papers and records in the case.
Very respectfully
287
368 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Matthews
Washington, June 27, 1892
Dear Brander, I have written to Howells about having you see the article —
though I am ashamed of myself for doing so. I have not as yet heard from
him; but I expect the article itself to be returned to me for revision soon, as
there were a number of small things that needed retouching. What Atlantic
article do you mean?
I must look up Hawthorns book; if only to revile it. I do wish you would
write a school hand book of American literature; I believe you would do a
great service. Who is the bishop of whom Higgenson writes who got out
a list of 150 books for American Sunday schools, and not one single Ameri-
can book in the lot? I would like to take him for a text.
My Parkman article1 is nearly done; but I am not satisfied with it. I do
wish you would do it. Reviews are not in my line; I do not seem to be able
to get the hang of writing them. I struggle and plunge frightfully, and
when written my words do'n't express my thought. I estimate Parkman as
high as you do; but I do not seem to be able to put on paper either my
belief, or my reasons therefor. I shall send the review, because I have prom-
ised it; but I shall send it half heartedly.
I am delighted with your Harper's article on American spelling;2 it is
in your best — and I can truthfully say your usual — vein. Yours
Warm regards to Mrs Matthews.
369 • TO w. c. KENYON Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 29, 1892
My Dear Sir: I was really pleased to receive your letter, and I think I may
say I quite appreciate and sympathize with your feelings. The aspirations of
others toward higher things must always touch a chord in our nature, but
I am in a good deal of a quandary what to advise you. You don't at all need
a collegiate training to obtain a good per cent in the ordinary clerk and
copyist examinations. All you have to know is how to spell, to copy accu-
rately, to do arithmetic up to percentage, interest and partial payments, and
to be able to write grammatically. The competition for these places however
is very severe, and the standard from such a State as Iowa is very high, so
that I do not know whether you would have a very good chance or not
from that State. I understand, however, from one paragraph of your letter
that you would like to get into the internal revenue service. This is a serv-
ice which we do not cover at all. It is unclassified, and we have nothing to
do with filling the places; they are filled by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Now, my dear sir, will you let me advise you if you have a good position
1 "Francis Parkman's Histories," Independent, 45:20 (November 24, 1892).
*"As to American Spelling," Harper's Monthly, 85:277-284 (July 1892).
288
to stick to it rather than to try to get into the Government service. There is
as much pressure for places in the Government service as elsewhere, and
the positions where your peculiar qualifications in reference to pharmacy,
etc., would count are very few, so that there \vould be rather a small chance
of getting them; and if you can go on in a good position now I would
earnestly advise your doing so. I however send you herewith a full set of
application blanks and a copy of our last report so that you may study them
for yourself. Very sincerely yours
370'TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed'1
Washington, July 27, 1892
Dear Cabot, I had seen Adams' ridiculous article. I enclose the data you
request; also the 7th Report which deals with the removals in the classified
service. We have no means of knowing what they are in the unclassified —
where however the amount is that both sides have removed about every-
body.
Frankly I think the record pretty bad for both Cleveland and Harrison,
and it is rather Walrus and Carpenter work choosing between the records
of the two parties, as far as civil service reform is concerned. In the classi-
fied service Cleveland made more extensions than Harrison; but on the other
hand Tracy has made an admirable start in the Navy Yards — but it is only
a start, not permanent, and can not be until put under us. Cleveland had a
much worse Commission; but Harrison has not sustained his Commission at
all, and has allowed Wanamaker to put a premium upon the clearest viola-
tions of the law — in which the Republican members of the C. S. Commit-
tee have sustained him. So I really think it about a stand off here. We have
put much more of a stop to political assessments; but the offices have been
used for political purposes more shamefully and openly than even under the
last Administration. In the first term of the 5ist Congress we did better, and
in the second worse, than in any term of the 49th or 50*.
Altogether I am by no means pleased with what our party, at both the
White House and the Capitol, has done about Civil Service Reform. You
are the one conspicuous Republican leader who has done his whole duty —
and very much more than his whole duty — by the reform in the last three
years.
I leave Washington tomorrow and start west from Oyster Bay on Au-
gust ist or 2nd. I have just written an article2 on the foreign policy of this
Administration, where it is much sounder than on Civil Service Reform.
Edith and I have really had a pleasant time here in spite of the heat. I
1 Lodge, I, 122-123.
* Theodore Roosevelt, "The Foreign Policy of President Harrison," Independent,
44:1113-1115 (August n, 1892).
289
play tennis with Wharton at the Legation, on most afternoons; hitherto we
have come out exactly even on sets, so it is good fun.
Best love to Nannie. Yours ever
3 7 I • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cobles
Deadwood, South Dakota, August 26, 1892
Darling Bye, It has been so good of you to write me. Of course as soon as
I found out that Edith really did not want to go (I did'n't myself), I tele-
graphed her. I shall just love a holiday at home.
I had a very pleasant trip down; killed some prongbucks, prairie fowl,
etc. Twice the mosquitoes kept us awake at night; but most of the days
were lovely, cool and cloudy, yet with no rain. These days Hector1 would
have liked; but I was glad he was not along; for I doubt if he would have
much enjoyed the trip, and though very good tempered and willing he is
not really suited to this kind of life.
Here, arriving sunburnt and in rough garb, I suddenly found myself a
lion; the "leading citizens" all called on me instantly, in this rotten, shaky
hotel, and I was forced to open the campaign here, by a speech last evening
at a large and enthusiastic mass-meeting, whither I was escorted by a noisy
band. Afterwards I was taken up to the Deadwood Club, where I met the
(roughly) gilded youth of this golden town; I liked them, and they gave
me a breakfast this morning.
With best love to Corinne and Douglass (tell the latter I never saw finer
two-year old steers than those Sylvane put on for us) I am Your loving
brother
372 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Oyster Bay, September 25, 1892
Dear Cabot, Even in the West I saw by the occasional notices in the papers
that you were getting the Republican machine into fine condition in Massa-
chusetts, and that everyone recognized the fact that your hand was on the
throttle. I can not help believing that you will win the Senatorship this
time; if for any cause you fail, why it merely puts you in better shape for
the struggle two years hence. Of course you are looking with double care
after your congressional fences.
Although I had read your Homeric article2 in ms., I have actually reread
it twice since it appeared in print. I think it one of the very best essays, both
in style and matter, I have ever read, by anyone on any subject.
1 Robert Hector Munro Ferguson.
1 Lodge, I, 123-124.
•This article, "As to Certain Accepted Heroes," was later published in Certain Ac-
cepted Heroes and Other Essays in Literature and Politics (New York, 1897).
290
Here, on my return after a month's tedious but important tour among
the Indian reservations and schools, I find all very well; Edith and I have
been taking long rides on the polo ponies. Bamie is absorbed in her World's
Fair work; Elliot F. Shepard 3 has just made a most scurrilous and indecent
attack, in his paper, on her and her associates, by name. She, and my uncles,
are very desirous I should not respond, for fear he will go on attacking her;
and I am in a perfect quandary over the matter. He ought, by rights, to be
horsewhipped.
The Farmers' Alliance is giving our people serious concern in Kansas,
Nebraska and South Dakota; and ditto, the Germans in Illinois and Wiscon-
sin. I feel like making a crusade against the latter. I wish the cholera would
result in a permanent quarantine against most immigrants!
I passed a very pleasant three weeks on my ranch, and on the trip south
to Deadwood, shooting three or four deer and antelope — one deer from
the ranch verandah! In Deadwood I was enthusiastically received, and
opened the Republican campaign by speaking to a really large audience in
the fearful local opera house. Did you see my article on our Foreign Policy
in the Independent? I enclose a very nice letter from Admiral Brown, thank-
ing me for it. Please return this.
I have now got to plunge into the very disagreeable business of fighting
political assessments.
Give my best love to Nannie. How is Constance? Yours always
373 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, September 30, 1892
Dear Cabot, The enclosed from the Sun amused Edith and me greatly; I send
it to you for fear you may not get it. I suppose Everett will be an easy vic-
tim; but don't take any chances! The mugwumps seriously talk of carrying
Massachusetts for Cleveland and Russell; it is not possible, is it? I don't
know what to say of the chances in New York; the Democratic tariff plank
has helped us much, but no one can prophesy how much; and Hill and
Tammany seem to be fairly in harness for Cleveland.
Is Billy Wharton going to run against John Andrew? Let me know; and
drop me a line as to your own chances — for which I care a hundred times
more than for Harrison. Yours
374 • TO SETH LOW Low Mss.
Washington, September 30, 1892
My Dear Low: I have just received your letter, which has been following
me round the different Indian reservations on an official tour which I had
'Elliot Fitch Shepard, editor of the New York Mail and Express.
1 Lodge, I, 125.
291
to make. I am going to speak at Buffalo myself on the reformed civil service
system. I am myself quite in the dark as to the law under which the conven-
tion is to be held. I heartily agree with you that we ought to have suitable
men nominated by the Republicans, men who will have proper ideas about
city government; but I fear I will have absolutely no influence in bringing
about the nominations, as the Republican machine now regards me with an
especial hatred. When I come to New York I shall see you about it.
I am delighted that you enjoyed yourself in Norway. Cordially yours
375 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, October n, 1892
Dear Cabot, Nor shall I ever write again for The Cosmopolitan. The hitch
comes in with Walker, who has deprived Howells of control.2 I don't know
when my Repplier article will come out — I shall take it away from them
if they do not publish it soon. My Parkman article, two months after How-
ells, having asked for it, had accepted it with thanks, was returned by
Walker, on the ground that the subject was not one in which his readers
took any interest.
I do wish I could be with you! Although I am being worked up to the
hilt here, I often feel as though I can hardly keep away from you in such a
canvass as this. At any rate I shall speak to the point at the meeting on No-
vember 5th. But do you know, I feel sure you are going to win — I wouldn't
say this if I thought you were overconfident.
As for the general prospects, I don't know what to say. We have an
excellent fighting chance; but I think the odds are a little against us. Hill
and Tammany seem to be pulling straight for Cleveland in New York; and
it would be comic, were it not outrageous, to see how anxious the mug-
wumps are to let them have everything, if they'll only help Cleveland. The
mugwump attitude towards an anti-Tammany city ticket is an excellent
comment on the sincerity of their attacks on Republican "partisanship" in
local affairs.
In Wisconsin and Illinois we are suffering for our good deeds; the move-
ment among the Lutheran and Catholic Germans against us is most for-
midable; and it means a landslide, unless the latent Americanism in native
Democrats is awakened — and though this may be, I hardly dare hope for it.
In Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota the Alliance will give us a ter-
ribly narrow struggle. Still, in all these States, the old party feeling is strong,
even among the German Lutherans and the wild Farmers' Alliance cranks;
and I guess we'll carry them at the last, but by uncomfortably close majori-
1 Lodge, I, 125-126.
JJohn Brisben Walker, journalist and rancher, in 1889 bought and revived the ex-
piring Cosmopolitan Magazine. William Dean Howells was for a short time editor.
In 1905 Walker sold the magazine to William Randolph Hearst.
192
ties or pluralities. Halford is very hopeful as to the general result, and is sure
that the drift is all our way.
Last night I dined at the Secretary's of State to meet Egan.3 Tracy,
Rusk4 and Miller — also Wanamaker, who was rendered very uncomfortable
by my presence.
By the Lord, I shall make a straightout party speech on the 5th! I'll cut
for blood.
Best love to Nannie. Yours
376 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Oyster Bay, October 16, 1892
Dear Cabot, I thought your civil service speech excellent* unanswerable;
the showing was really better than I thought. I have sent it to the Governor.
I have just come back from an absurd, though useful, "Indian" conference
at Lake Mohonk; I will tell you about one or two of the incidents when we
meet. By the way, I hope some of your Boston papers noticed the smashing
we gave one section of the "Independent" manifesto; after I had roundly
denounced it as an "outrageous slander" I found that one of the signers,
Stimson, was sitting within ten feet of me.3
Without yet being very hopeful, I think our chances have improved. The
general sympathy for Harrison, because of his wife's illness, is helping him.
But the general apathy is very great.
Shall I see you at the meeting on the jth? Very warm love to Nannie
from Edith and myself. Yours
377 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Oyster Bay, October 18, 1892
Dear Cabot, Have just received your note about the Indian paragraph of the
Independent address.
Did not the Journal contain what I (and Morgan too) said about it at
Mohonk? Green, the Worcester Postmaster, who was present, telegraphed
it at once. If it has not appeared, will you have your secretary tell the
8 Patrick Egan, an active and prominent figure in the Irish nationalist movement who,
under threat of arrest, emigrated to America in 1882. He became a supporter of
Elaine, and was United States Minister to Chile during the Harrison administration.
* Jeremiah McLain Rusk, Republican congressman from Wisconsin, 1871-1877; Gov-
ernor of Wisconsin, 1882-1889; Secretary of Agriculture, 1889-1893.
1 Lodge, I, 126-127.
'At Srookline, Massachusetts, Lodge had defended Harrison's record on civil serv-
ice largely by comparing it favorably to Cleveland's.
* Henry Lewis Stimson was among those independent Republicans who announced,
in a manifesto, their support of Cleveland in 1892.
1 Lodge, I, 127.
293
Journal to have their correspondent call on me in Washington (where I go
tomorrow). I will give them an interview straight from the shoulder; and
I would like also to give them a statement about political assessments. I wish
to say that I know these went on more extensively under the Democrats in
1888, and that the difference is that we have put them down; and is our
action, contrasted with the Democratic inaction, that makes the difference.
To use a coarse illustration, the boil was worse under the Cleveland people;
with us it is not so bad, and we have lanced it; whereat the idiots yell as if it
was the lancing, not the boil — the cure, not the disease — which reflected
discredit on the people who did it! Moreover, even Wanamaker has acted
promptly, and very creditably, on our letter calling attention to the attempt
to use the postmasters for political purposes. All of which I will be delighted
to say; tell the Journal to telegraph on for the interview at once. Yours
P.S. You certainly did use them up in the Wolsey matter. I never had
so much as heard of Theodore S. Wolsey, the present man.
378 - TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
Washington, October 22, 1892
My Dear Sir: If you have or can procure from the Indianapolis Sentinel any
information tending to show that John K. Gowdy1 sent the letter soliciting
contributions quoted in your last issue to Government employes in any
Government building I wish greatly you would communicate the same to
the Commission. The Commission has had numerous cases of solicitation by
local politicians called to its attention, but it has proved exceedingly difficult
to get any testimony showing that the solicitation was made, by writing or
otherwise, in a Government building. The Commission holds that solicita-
tion by letter in a Government building is as much forbidden as solicitation
in person, and is very anxious to get testimony in some case where the facts
can be established beyond doubt. Yours truly
379 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Sivift Mss.Q
Washington, October 23, 1892
Dear Mr Swift, Mr. Lyman will be in Indianapolis (at the P. O) by Wedns-
day, to conduct an examination. If you can get any facts about political
assessments, will you not lay them before him then? Before he left he told
1 John K. Gowdy, chairman of the Indiana State Republican Committee.
294
me especially, in answer to my question, that he would pay every heed to
political assessments. Warm regards to Mrs. Swift. Yours truly
380 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
Washington, October 31, 1892
My dear Mr. Swift, Many thanks for the papers in the Ditney P. O. matter.1
We think Chairman Gowdy has clearly violated the law, and has so stated
in the report which we are just about to lay before the Attorney General
for his action. Yours truly
P.S You are at liberty to make this conclusion to which we have come
public, but by preference not until next Saturday; I think it would be best
to quote them in the "oratio obliqua," instead of in the first person; put
it as the action of the Commission, rather than as mine.
3 8 1 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed l
Oyster Bay, November 10, 1892
Dear Cabot, Well, as to the general result I am disappointed but not sur-
prised, save as to the size of the majority in New York. I had given Leupp
my figures, which were 70,000 against us in N. Y. City and 18,000 in Brook-
lyn. I knew the West was very shaky; and I never could see what were the
facts which made our people confident there and in N. Y.
The ray of bright light is your success in Massachusetts. I can't get
full returns here. Apparently Russell wins by a small majority, worse luck;
but this can not affect your success with the general ticket, and leaving them
but three Congressmen. Thank heaven for Williams' defeat. How large was
your majority over Everett? I believe that this gives you the Senatorship
practically without further struggle; and I am glad, as it has turned out,
that you did run, and once more carry your district, and whip a mugwump
hero. If you had not done it, it would always have been said that you did
not dare try. Your foot is on their necks. But how it galls to see the self-
complacent triumph of our foes! I only hope Hill does not prove the resid-
uary legatee of this success. I shall go to Washington Monday. When do
you come?
Best love to Nannie. Yours
P.S. Trumbull, of Chili, has written me about my article. I shall speedily
answer him. I can't get the least help from Wharton in the matter.
1 Gowdy had written C. K. Ketcham, the postmaster at Ditney, Indiana, requesting
funds for the Republican campaign.
1 Lodge, 1, 128.
295
382'TO HEXRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, November 16, 1892
Dear Cabot: Your predictions about the result in Massachusetts, made in
your various letters to me, were fulfilled with curious exactness. You said
that Harrison would get between twenty and thirty thousand majority,
and that your own majority would be between two and three thousand,
and that you would elect all but three, or possibly four, Congressmen; while
all you said about the governorship was that you thought it would be very
close, with a good chance of defeating Russell. As for our national com-
mittee, I could not help thinking that they were simply determined not to
look the danger in the face. In Illinois, Kansas, and South Dakota the straws
were so numerous that I could not help seeing them myself as I went about
among the people and politicians in those States; and I thought that they
were all wrong in basing hopes upon the N. Y. registration, because they en-
tirely failed to take account of the change of population. Of course the reg-
istration is lighter below Fourteenth Street because each year a greater per-
centage of the tenement house population moves north. But as you say, I
think this means trouble of an acute kind to the business interests of the
country, and especially to the West, during the next four years. I rather
hope that the Democrats get complete control of the Senate. I want to see
them have full responsibility for their actions. Let them meddle with the
tariff just as much as they wish, and let them get into the wrangle over
the finances which is bound to come. I must say I contemplate the possi-
bility of Hill's election with great horror. He is a most dangerous man, and
now he is only the more dangerous because it is being knocked into his
wicked head that he cannot succeed in running national politics with the
same transparently open vileness that he has displayed in running New
York politics. I had, of course, at once thought of Reed myself, and shall
write to him at once as you suggest. Thank heavens he was perf ecdy loyal
in this campaign and fought hard in it. I saw Elaine the other day, and he is
a broken and used up man. I cannot see, judging from all the facts in my
possession, how you can possibly be beaten for the senatorship. I regard it
as yours, but I am very glad you do not intend to relax an effort, and that
you yourself will see personally every man during the next fortnight.
Barrett2 is so tricky a specimen that I wish to see you with a clear majority,
not merely of the caucus, but of the whole legislature. I do not see why
Crapo continues to hang on in the contest. It is a great comfort to me at
any rate to see the smash that has come upon the mugwumps, or, more
properly, the new mugwump-Democratic leaders, especially Williams, in
Massachusetts. You certainly have done them up. Russell is the only one
1 Lodge, 1, 128-130.
•William Emerson Barrett, later Republican congressman from Massachusetts, 1895-
1899.
296
left. I suppose Quincy has had senatorial aspirations, but it is evident that
he will have to wait many a long year yet before he can so much as think
about them. In New York of course the silly better element is fatuous in
its shortsighted delight and is utterly unmoved by the possibility of having
Sheehan8 or Croker* put in the Senate. I read an article in the New York
Nation the other day so foolish, so malignant, so deliberately mendacious,
and so exultant that it fairly made me writhe to think of the incalculable
harm to decency that scoundrelly paper, edited by its scoundrelly chief,
Godkin, has done. Early next week I shall go back to New York and get
Edith, returning on December ist; so I fear I shall not see Nannie until
you come. Yours
383 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Svrift Ms*.
Washington, November 21, 1892
Dear Mr. Swift: I am afraid we will find it difficult to get you a Blue Book.
Only a very limited number are published, and it is very hard indeed to
get any of these. However, I shall do my best and shall get our Secretary
to go up to the Interior Department and see if he can't find someone who
has a spare copy. As for the list of delegates, I really would not know at
all how to get at them. Haven't you got some Democratic friend who will
procure them for you from the National Democratic Committee? I think
this would be the easiest way of getting at it. Of course if I quit the Com-
mission I will do my best to help on in the battle. The main reason influ-
encing to make me think I shall leave is that I question if my usefulness
would not be seriously impaired by the mere fact that I would be attacking
not my party associates but my party foes. I think outside people would
have more doubt as to my motives; and moreover I question whether the
administration would be willing to endure as much as they did this time.
The Commission certainly did all it could to stop political assessments in
the last campaign, and I wish we had had power to do more. I do not
think that any president of the United States would stand higher on the
roll of honor than the president who should make the first and most im-
portant article in his creed absolute destruction of the spoils system.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Swift. Cordially yours
'John Charles Sheehan, prominent Tammany Hall leader, police commissioner of
New York City, 1892-1895.
* Richard Croker, Irish immigrant who entered New York City politics during the
heyday of William M. Tweed. He supported "Honest John" Kelly as Tweed's suc-
cessor, and in 1886 succeeded Kelly as leader of Tammany HalL Shrewd, ruthless,
and acquisitive, Croker was in many ways the ablest opponent of Roosevelt's political
supporters in New York. Of him William Allen \\hite wrote: "Richard Croker's
face and green-gray eyes mirrored a low, incessant, gnawing greed — greed for
power, for money, tor destruction. They epitomized all that the politics or our city
was revealing in those days."
297
384 • TO WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE Foulke AtSS.
Washington, December 5, 1892
My Dear Foulke: I was very glad to hear from you, even in a mere busi-
ness communication. When are you coming on to Washington? I am so
anxious to see you and talk over matters, including, especially, the late land-
slide. O, Lord! how I wish it were possible to persuade some "pretty good"
men in politics that it would pay as a mere matter of political expediency
to be not pretty good with an eye toward the bad, but good outright,
straight and simple, with no reference to the bad at all. Even on political
grounds I don't see that a career of virtue could well entail a worse defeat
than that which attended a career of mixed vice and virtue on our part (I am
speaking as a Republican) at the last election. At any rate I did all I could
to stop the collection of political assessments, and have the profound grati-
fication of knowing that there is no man more bitterly disliked by many
of the men in my own party. When I leave on March 5th I shall at least
have the knowledge that I have certainly not flinched from trying to en-
force the law during these four years, even if my progress has been at
times a little disheartening.
Now, having uttered this wail of pain and anger, I come to your request.
I think I can speak as you request, about the date that you wish. When
will it be necessary, however, for me to give you a definite answer, and
when can you give me a definite date? Cordially yours
385 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MattheWS
Washington, December 6, 1892
Dear Brander: I consider it a trifle soul-harrowing to get worked up about
two heroes and then have them left on the top of a burning hotel in the
midst of a sentence describing their escape. I have but two suggestions to
make in reference to the cowpuncher. Don't make him praise the fried pork.
The good cook with the hash knife outfit would doubtless have taken care
that the boys had beef as often as was possible, with, at certain times, rice,
prunes, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. The cowpuncher who had been over
the trail and spent a winter near Miles City would not be apt to think very
much of fried pork. In the next place, as to the dance: It is absolutely true
to nature to paint him as not understanding Patience (I had a very similar
experience with one of my own cowpunchers in New York) but a man
who had been up the trail would have been almost certain to see some kind
of variety shows, in Deadwood, Denver, Cheyenne, Miles City, or else-
where. The skirt dance would doubtless appeal to him as something better
than he had yet seen; but he would have compared it with these and other
variety shows, and not with a cowboy dance at the Mexican's home at
Sagebrush Crossing. Another small point is that the onlooker would prob-
298
ably at first be a little uncertain whether the man were a cowboy, which,
strictly interpreted, means merely a cow hand, or some ranchman or other
person connected with the cattle business. I don't know, however, that this
point is worth notice.
I was so driven to death that I didn't have a chance to get into the
Century, and I am very sorry to have caused you the trouble of stopping
in. I have written to propose Thompson's name, and asked if the paper can
be sent to me for my signature; in which case I shall forward it to you.
Richard Harding Davis1 was here yesterday and I met him at a dinner
given by two of the British Legation. He was of course stirred up to
much wrath by my Cos?nopolita?2 article, and was so entirely unintelligent
that it was a little difficult to argue with him, as he apparently considered
it a triumphant answer to my position to inquire if I believed in the Ameri-
can custom of chewing tobacco and spitting all over the floor. To this I
deemed it wisest to respond that I did; and that in consequence the British
Minister, who otherwise liked me, felt very badly about having me at the
house, especially because I sat with my legs on the table during dinner. The
man has the gift of narration; but when it comes to breeding, upon my word
it is hardly too much to say that even Kipling could give him points. I am
glad I hit Kipling in the jaw, by the way; he needed it. There was in
my article, however, one joke on myself, for the final poem I quoted, the
name of whose author I had forgotten, was by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Funnily enough neither Howells nor Lodge remembered this author, al-
though both were much struck by the poem. Yours always
[Handwritten} P.S. I'll do the 500 words about Harts book as soon as I
get a little time.
386 • TO THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION RoOSevelt
Washington, December 15, 1892
Gentlemen: I have carefully examined and analyzed the testimony taken
in the investigation recently made, under orders from the Commission, by
the postal civil service board in Indianapolis into alleged violation of the
law concerning political assessments. From this testimony it appears that
after the late election the Democratic campaign committee in Indianapolis
found itself in arrears to the extent of several thousand dollars and began
to take steps to reimburse itself. The committee appears to have had its
headquarters in the rooms of a local Democratic organization known as
the Hendricks Club, and its membership is apparently partially drawn from
among the members of the club. The county treasurer, a Mr. Backus, was
the member who appears most prominently in the testimony. It seems that
he spoke to a letter carrier, C. J. Dunn, explaining about the shortage in
1 Richard Harding Davis, reporter of the vigorous life in fact and fiction; biographer
of Gibson boys and girls; at this time managing editor of Harper's Weekly.
299
the funds of the committee and stating, apparently as the result of the
decision of the committee, that the Democratic post office employes (the
so-called "hold-overs") ought to contribute in the neighborhood of four
hundred dollars towards making up the shortage (see testimony, p.ioo).
Backus further notified him to request various individuals among these
employes to come up to a meeting at the Hendricks Club, in order "to see
what they felt like doing."
Accordingly it appears that the various Democratic employes were noti-
fied, most of them apparently by Dunn, to come to the meeting of the
Hendricks Club, it being understood that the meeting was partly for the
purpose of raising funds, partly with the idea that they should press one
of their number Mr. Lorenz for the superintendency of the carriers under
the incoming administration, and also to meet Mr. Sahm ^.39-40), the
talk among "the boys" being that this Mr. Sahm had been decided upon
as the next Congressman (p-42). It appears that Mr. Lorenz himself was
also instrumental in requesting the carriers to go to the meeting at the
Hendricks Club (p-46). It further appears that the letter carrier Dunn
then approached various individuals among his fellow Government em-
ployes, as requested by Backus.
Alexander McNutt testified that Dunn told him that the local com-
mittee was in debt, and asked if we could reach in our pockets and help
them out (p.2). He explicitly says (p-4) that Dunn approached him in re-
gard to making a donation to make up the deficiency, the request being
made in the letter carriers' office, but no specific amount being named by
him, though witness appeared to think that about ten dollars apiece was
expected. McNutt further testifies that he did not contribute, and that
since refusing to contribute he and Dunn had not been on good terms.
The letter carrier W. A. Balk testifies to the same effect, namely, that
after the campaign Dunn came to him and asked him to give what he could,
or a certain amount, for the campaign, the request being made in the car-
riers' office, in the post office building; and furthermore, that Dunn asked
him to call at a certain time at the Hendricks Club room.
R. O. Shimer, another letter carrier, says that Dunn said to him: "The
committee is short some money and we want to know if you can't help to
make it up," or something to the effect. The witness first said that Dunn
did not ask him for a contribution, merely speaking about the need of
money.
Jacob Methias, another letter carrier, states that Dunn asked him to
come down to a meeting at the Hendricks Club, saying that there was
a shortage in the Democratic campaign fund and that he was authorized
to notify the boys that they had to raise some money (pp.23, 24 & 25),
the witness explaining that by "boys" he understood to be meant the Dem-
ocratic carriers in office. At the end of his testimony the witness stated
300
that he understood that the money was demanded, the demand being made
and the money having to be raised.
William Darby, a letter carrier, testifies that Dunn asked him on the
street, not to give any specific amount, but saying merely that the com-
mittee would be pleased if he would donate something. The witness reiter-
ates that Dunn did not ask him for any money, but later testified (p-49)
that Dunn had told him that the committee would require ten or fifteen
dollars apiece from the boys to make up tthe sum that was expected. Dunn
likewise asked him to attend the meeting at the Hendricks Club room.
F. A. Lorenz, a letter carrier, states that Dunn made a statement to him
that the Democratic committee was short, and desired the Democrats of the
post office to help them out. He also says the same fact was mentioned
several times, but particularizes that Dunn, not in the building, but on the
street, said to him that the campaign committee was short in its funds and
wanted them (the Democratic postal employes) to help them out, adding
"What will you do?" "Will you do anything?" (p.6i) "Can you do any-
thing?" and stating the amount he expected the Democratic carrier force
in the office to contribute, it being about four hundred dollars all told.
C W. Parish testified that Dunn notified him that there was need of
money, and told him to go to the Hendricks Club room on a certain date
(p-75). The witness testifies explicitly (p.yS) that Dunn asked him for
a contribution, stating that they wanted to raise about four hundred dollars
from the officeholders. He stated that he had refused to give Dunn a cent,
and told him that he would not give him anything.
W. P. Marlatt, another letter carrier, testifies that Dunn told him, in
effect, that the Democratic committee would be glad to receive any contri-
butions which anyone desired to give to make up the shortage (p.po).
Dunn states (p.ioo) that he has no remembrance of telling any man that
he was expected to pay a sum of money when he went to the meeting, and
that he does not remember speaking about the finances at all when he in-
vited the boys to the Hendiicks Club (pp.pp-ioo), but afterwards says
(p. 1 04) "I might have told one or two that there was a shortage x x x;
I might have made a statement something like that." This seems to be prac-
tically an admission that he did tell some of "the boys" that there was a
shortage in the treasury chest of the Democratic committee. If his denial
were positive, which it is not, it could not stand against the explicit testi-
mony of Darby, Parish, McNutt, Balk, and others.
In consequence of these requests a number of the Government employes,
chiefly letter carriers, but with one or possibly more clerks among them,
perhaps a dozen in all (p.65), went down to the Hendricks Club at the
time appointed. A number of the ordinary members of the club were pres-
ent, but the letter carriers met in a room by themselves, no outsider but
Mr. Backus being present (p-4o). Mr. Sahm was not in the room, though
301
he was in the club at the time (pp-yS & 105). Mr. Sahm's presence of course
was of no consequence, save that if the letter carriers believed, as they were
informed, that he was to be the next Postmaster, it might have had the
effect of making them more ready to give contributions. Backus then ad-
dressed the letter carriers, stating that there was a shortage after the cam-
paign expenses had been paid of several thousand dollars, and that they
thought three or four hundred dollars of the amount ought to be raised
by the post office employes (pp-4i & 66). He said that the meeting was
for the purpose of paying the campaign expenses, but that no assessment
would be made, the men being free to give or not (pp. 12 & 33). There was
some discussion at the club as to how the money should be given, and ob-
jections were at once made to giving it to Mr. Dunn or to taking receipts
for it (pp-38 & 52), and Dunn was warned that he had better be careful in
his behavior lest he might get into trouble (by coming in contact with the
civil service law, Page 55). At one time Dunn intimated that he would re-
ceive the money himself (p.«58»), and again, it was suggested that the
money should just be left in a box in the office (p.88). Evidently the men
present were not acting in complete ignorance of the law, but were un-
easily trying to evade its provisions. Backus was careful to state that the
members could give or refuse money as they chose, but he was also care-
ful to state (p.6y) that "the next postmaster was named, and that he was
a good Democrat," and "that those that contributed freely would be re-
membered" (p. 1 08). It is needless to point out the implication contained
in these two sentences.
This case seems to me to be akin to the case of political assessments in
the Baltimore post office at the time of the Republican primaries in the
spring of 1891, and in the departmental service by the Old Dominion Repub-
lican club in the fall of 1889. In both of these cases the evidence showed
that Government employes had been endeavoring to assess other Govern-
ment employes, aside from what the evidence showed against outsiders. In
each of these cases it was the opinion of the Commission on the evidence
taken that certain Government employes were clearly guilty, exactly as it
seems to me that the evidence shows Dunn in this case to have been clearly
guilty of directly or indirectly soliciting money for political purposes from
certain of his associates, and in one or two cases thus soliciting them in
a Government building. In each case the Commission brought the matter
to the attention not only of the Attorney General but of the head of the
department wherein the officials implicated were employed, being of the
opinion that in many of these cases, even where there is difficulty (in pro-
curing sufficient legal evidence, or for other reasons,} in securing a convic-
tion there may nevertheless be amply sufficient evidence to remove all rea-
sonable doubt of the guilt of the accused and to warrant his dismissal from
office, it being in the opinion of the Commission very desirable that appoint-
ing officers shall take prompt action to punish the wrongdoers themselves
302
wherever they are in Government employ. This case and the two cases above
mentioned have of course many points of dissimilarity, although they resem-
ble one another in this essential, call three including* attempts to collect
money for political purposes by certain employes from other employes of the
Government. In the case of the Old Dominion League, an organization com-
posed partly of outsiders and partly of individuals in Government employ,
an attempt was made to collect funds from various employes in the depart-
ments at Washington from the State of Virginia for the purpose of aiding
the Republican campaign in the State. At Baltimore the postal employes,
together with some of the employes in the offices of the collector and the
marshal, joined to assess one another and to solicit and receive from one an-
other sums of money to be expended in the interests of one faction at the
Republican primaries. In the present instance a Democratic letter carrier,
appointed when a Democratic postmaster was in office at Indianapolis, but
continued in office to this day under the operations of the civil service
law, acts as the instrument of a local Democratic campaign committee in
the effort to procure political contributions from various other Democratic
letter carriers (in the office) in order to make up a shortage in the cam-
paign account of the committee. This request is in the nature of a reductio
ad absurdum of the arguments usually advanced in behalf of political assess-
ments. Thus the circular sent out by the Ohio Republican State committee
in the last campaign requested money from the various postal employes in
Ohio, upon the ground that they owed their positions to the Republican
party. This was of course, in so far as these positions are under the civil
service law, a deliberate and willful untruth, and in any event furnished
no excuse for the attempted blackmail. But the climax of iniquitous absurd-
ity is certainly reached when an attempt is made to collect money from
Government employes by a Democratic campaign committee on the ground
that, thanks to the operation of the civil service law, these same employes
have been kept in office nearly four years under a Republican administra-
tion. I recommend that the case be brought to the attention of the Post-
master General and of the Attorney General. Very respectfully
387 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE RoOSCVelt MsS.°
Washington, December 25, 1892
Dear Cecily A merry Xmas to you, from myself and Mrs. Roosevelt — and
may you speedily be back with us again. We think constantly of you, in-
cluding Ted; we've had to put him in spectacles on account of his eyes,
and he looks more like the Paddy Brownie than ever.
Your French friend turned up, but though I called on him three times
I failed to find him; and he only stayed three or four days. I suppose you
have heard of the death of Mrs. Elliott Roosevelt. It was very unexpected;
a really pitiful tragedy, for she was so young and beautiful and attractive,
303
and her life had had such possibilities. The three little children have gone
to her mother, as is right and fitting.
Cabot is back in Massachusetts, looking after the senatorship.1 I think
he'll get it, bar accidents; but politics are so uncertain, that I am anxious.
No man deserves success more than he; and he is admirably equipped to do
good work. Nannie is more attractive and charming than ever, to my mind,
and she has recovered from the deep depression into which she was thrown
by her mother's death. Henry Adams is back, and we have been there once
or twice for the usual pleasant dinners and evenings; pretty Mrs. Cameron
being usually the other guest, with perhaps John Hay — who is now in very
good form and most amusing — or Clarence King2 or Lafarge.3 Did I write
you that he had staying with him a delightful Polynesian chief, and adopted
brother? a polished gentleman, of easy manners, with an interesting under-
tone of queer barbarism.
You would have been amused at a dinner I recently gave. I found that
Mungo Herbert* was very anxious to meet Pat Egan — whose course in
Chili I had championned in the papers, so I had them both to dine, with
Hitt and one or two others, and they got on admirably. Egan is a small,
low-voiced man, not atall one's idea of an agitator.
For the last fortnight we have not been out at all, of course.
I am writing you rather on faith, as I have'n't the least idea whether
you ever get my letters. Always yours
388 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ
Washington, December 29, 1892
My Dear Mr. Schurz: Many thanks for your kind note. I am very anxious
to see you about civil service matters myself — I need not say that I am al-
ways anxious to see you on other matters likewise. What days are you apt to
be in New York? I should, if necessary, come on for the purpose of seeing
you. I had thought of trying to see Mr. Cleveland but came to the conclu-
sion that this would be an unwarrantable intrusion on my part as he must
. now be overwhelmed with visitors, but I should like to see you who stand
so close to him and to tell you exactly how the civil service question ap-
pears to me here. I do wish also that you could arrange to have Leupp, the
1 In January 1893 Henry Cabot Lodge was elected to the United States Senate to fill
the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Henry L. Dawes.
4 Clarence King was a gifted geologist, the moving spirit behind the great Report of
the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel (Washington, 1870-1880); a
bright and winning personality, the closest friend of Henry Adams and John Hay.
1 John La Farge, the painter, had gone with Henry Adams to the South Seas in the
previous year. There they had met Tati Salmon, the "Polynesian Chief of this letter.
An arresting figure, he ruled the island of Papara, was half English, and weighed 400
pounds.
4 Michael Henry Herbert.
304
editor of Good Government, see Cleveland. He is thoroughly familiar \vith
the situation here and ardently devoted to the reform.
By the way I can never help regretting that you would not do the
Lincoln for the Statesmen series. It ought to have been a crowning piece
of what really on the whole is a pretty good series. We do want a com-
paratively short biography of Lincoln written by a master hand. I think
your sketch of Lincoln is by far the best thing that has ever been published
about him. Cordially yours
[Handwritten] P.S. I think I shall be in N. Y. on the i8th, to attend the
meeting of the Executive Committee of the League; could'nt you dine, or
lunch with me on that day?
389 ' TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ
Washington, January 5, 1893
Dear Mr. Schurz, I am very much pleased with what you write, and, my
dear Sir, I am greatly touched at the interest you, with your many calls,
have taken in the matter.
I should rather communicate with Mr. Cleavland through you; can I
not see you first? Next week will be a very busy one for us; on the idth
I have an engagement here, & on the i9th I leave for Chicago; will it be
convenient to arrange for my calling on Mr Cleavland, anywhere he wishes,
on the i yth or i8th? If I could see you first I should be very glad; say
earlier on the same day I saw Mr. Cleavland.
With hearty thanks Cordially yours
390 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MsS.°
Washington, January 14, 1893
Darling Bye, On Monday we had a pleasant dinner at the Blair Lees; then
I went to Philadelphia to investigate the Postoffice, and turned up in New
York next day, lunching with Corinne and Douglas, and dining with the
Boone and Crockett club — very successful, twenty eight men in all. It is
needless to say that Chamberlain took excellent care of me, and gave me
excellent breakfasts. Thursday I spent at Sagamore Hill, engaged in incul-
cating doctrines of rigorous economy; and dined at the Players with Brander
Matthews. On Friday I got back in time to work up what was in arrears at
the office; we dined at Mrs. Slaters: I took in Mrs. Goschen; the Goschens
seem nice people, although not particularly bright. We also dined out last
evening and this, and now welcome the chance of a few evenings at home.
305
Cabot and I ride together when we get a chance; and this morning Willie
Phillips1 joined me in taking the children for a wild scramble.
There is the chance of a rift in the clouds so far as Sagamore Hill is
concerned. Uncle Jim has written me that he might like to make an offer
for all of the land except the amount I choose to keep round the house
(which would be about 20 acres). I told him you and Uncle Jimmie would
have first chance to purchase, but that of course the offerring it to you was,
as matters now stand a mere formality. I only wish you could purchase
it! So just drop me a line telling me to go ahead. If Uncle Jim does buy
it may make the difference of my being able to stay at Sagamore. I shall
write Rosy soon. Your aff. brother
391 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Matthews MsS.
Washington, February 8, 1893
Dear Brander: Picking up the Critic, my attention was caught by a bit of
colonialism so flagrant, so snobbish, and in such bad taste that I really wish
you would call the attention of the Critic people to it. It is in the review
of the Life of Allston. The reviewer begins by calling him the American
Raphael, a piece of silly vulgarity, which is bad enough in itself; but he
caps the climax by saying that he made the great mistake of his life, the
irreparable blunder, when he left England, where, perhaps, he could have
succeeded West as president of the London Academy, and returned to
America. He goes on to say that had he remained in England he might have
had more of his pictures hanging in the English "manors." It might be
pointed out to him that you can't hang pictures in manors, at least not with
due regard for the pictures. The writer mentions that Congress offered to
give Allston two of the panels in the rotunda to paint historical scenes, but
actually hasn't got the sense to see that this gave him a chance such as he
could not have had if he had remained in England a century, and that it
was because he got tangled up in attempting to do a piece of work which
was beyond him that he was unable to take advantage of the Congressional
offer. He also fails to see that undoubtedly one of the reasons why Allston
was a much greater painter than West was his possessing those traits of
character which made him remain an American instead of becoming an
Englishman, as West did. I can stand with complete indifference an article
by Andrew Lang, but I must say I get ravingly angry at so thoroughly
snobbish and un-American an article as this, and no less angry with the
Critic people for publishing it. I wish you would show those of them who
are my friends tins letter. I only write it because I am so anxious to see
the Critic do well.
1 William Hallett Phillips was an intimate friend of John Hay, Henry Adams, and
Theodore Roosevelt. With Roosevelt, he was instrumental in the passage in 1894 of
the law establishing the administration of Yellowstone Park on a sound foundation.
306
I have written to the Atlantic to ask permission to review Lodge's book
and yours. I do not know whether it will be granted. I do wish that you
would go even more into the work of literary reviewing, and I also wish
that you would write what might be called a history of American litera-
ture,—that is, a series of reviews, written in your characteristic style, of
our different American authors and schools of literature. If you would only
do this, taking your time about it, you would make a book of the utmost
permanent value and interest.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Matthews. We enjoyed so much seeing
you here. Cordially yours
392 • TO EDWARD OLIVER WOLCOTT RoOSevelt MsS.
Washington, February 13, 1893
My dear Sir: * In response to your request to know the need of the Com-
mission for an increased appropriation for traveling expenses, I beg to ask
your attention to the following extract from the last report of the Com-
mission:
The Commission urges very strongly the necessity for increased appropria-
tions. First, for traveling expenses. During the last fiscal year the amount allowed
for traveling expenses was wholly expended, and yet it was impossible to keep
such a supervision over the local offices by perso'nal inspection as is not only
desirable but necessary if the law is to be rigidly observed. There are some local
offices which the Commission has not been able to visit or have one of its em-
ployes visit for over two years; and the Commission is quite unable to guarantee
that in all respects the law has been faithfully observed in these offices which it
has had no chance to inspect, x x x periodical visitation and thorough inspection
are necessary to complete supervision and the securing of the best results.
Since this was written, the President on January 5th last, amended the
rules so as to add all free-delivery offices to the classified service. From 53
post offices the classified list has been extended to 60 1. This increased work
makes necessary ist., a deficiency appropriation of Siooo a request for which
was laid before the House on January 30th and referred to the Committee
on Appropriations; 2nd., an increase of appropriation from $5,250, as just
passed by the House to $8,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894. In
the estimates to Congress made before the increase in the number of classi-
fied post offices, the Commission said:
An increase of $1,750 is asked for in this appropriation to meet the increased
expenses of examinations held elsewhere than in Washington, arising from the
necessity of renting rooms and furniture and paying for janitor service at points
where there are no public buildings, and where those buildings are not adequate
1 Edward Oliver Wolcott, conservative leader of the Republican party in Colorado,
moderate silverite, United States Senator, 1889-1901.
307
tor the steadily increasing number of applicants since the classification of the
Railway Mail Service, the Indian Service, and the Fish Commission, and the in-
creased travel required by the growth and extension of the service, and the proper
supervision of the work at classified post offices and custom-houses.
The deficiency appropriation of $1000 is made necessary by the necessity
of visiting the larger post offices added to the classified service on January
5th. $5,250 was wholly expended in the fiscal year 1892, and the schedule
of examinations for 1893 will entail an even larger expenditure. One examiner
is now in the South conducting a series of examinations and in addition
visiting the larger of the new post offices in that section. He will spend
$200 in this extra work. A second Examiner is making a tour in the West
for which 8400 will be spent. A third is visiting the Middle States at an
expense of $200, and $200 will be needed for New England offices.
Without these 548 additional offices the Commission stated that it needed
$7,000 and now with these additional offices, it asks $1,000 more.
The legislative, etc. appropriation bill as it passed the House should be
amended by striking out in line 4, page 20, the words "five thousand two
hundred and fifty" and inserting in their stead "eight thousand," so that the
paragraph will read:
For necessary traveling expenses, including those of examiners acting under the
direction of the Commission, and for expenses of examinations and investigations
held elsewhere than at Washington, eight thousand dollars.
I inclose a schedule of the examinations showing on page 8-12 the routes
followed by Examiners in holding examinations. The civil service law con-
templates die holding of examinations in each State and Territory at least
twice in each year. The classified service now embraces about 43,500
places, of which only about 9700 are at Washington. The service outside
requiring constant personal inspection embraces Boards of Examiners at
each of eleven customs ports, and 60 1 post offices. Much the larger ex-
pense, however, is in the conduct of the examinations for the Departmental,
Railway Mail and Indian Services.
Since 1883, the classified service has increased from 13,924 places to
about 43,447 and the appropriation for salaries and traveling expenses from
$21,300 to $41,650. Yours very truly
[Handwritten} P.S. If we do not get the extra appropriation we shall
simply have to cut down on our «use» of examinations; no appointments
can be made save through our lists; and this will therefore meant that until
we get enough money to enable us to hold our examinations, all the appoint-
ments will be made from those already on our lists, even though the quality
may fall off as we approach the bottom of them, while none of the resi-
308
dents of the different states who may now wish to enter the service will
be able to do so.
393 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MattheWS
Washington, February 14, 1893
Dear Brander: New York is a pretty good place. I wish Miss Repplier could
be chained up there until she got civilized.
The Atlantic has declined to take my essay, or review, concerning yours
and Lodge's books. Do you think that Gilder would let me work it into the
Century, under some such title as "American Essayists." I wish he would,
but I don't know because the Century seems to have a rooted aversion to
anything literary.
I enclose you a copy of the part of my letter in answer to my English
friend which dealt with his request to keep his own spelling.
It may be that Lodge and I will be on in New York on the 22d or 23d;
if so, would there be a chance of meeting you on that date? Cordially yours
[Handwritten] P.S. Who should I send my "Winning of the West" to,
to try for the the Loubat prize? I think your examination paper excellent.
394 • TO GEORGE LEROY BROWN Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, March 25, 1893
My Dear Captain Brown:1 1 have just received the second series of letters in
reference to field matrons, hospital assistants, etc., and I have had them
docketed and referred to the Commission for its immediate action. We shall
take them up in connection with your letters received yesterday and the
day before. There is evident necessity for certain changes in the rules and
practice either of the Commission or of the Indian department, from what
you say. I am not certain that we will be able to get prompt action at the
present moment, simply because the Indian department is not organized and
everything here in Washington is at sixes and sevens, thanks to the fact
that almost the entire attention of the Cabinet is being taken up by the
horde of office seekers. Things will soon quiet down however, and then
I intend to ask for a full conference with the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs with special reference to your suggestions. Cordially yours
[Handwritten] P.S In reference to your letter just received, I have to
say that our cancelling the examinations only referred to department places
— not those in the Indian service; and I think the commission will adopt
your suggestion for the examination at Pine Ridge.
1 George LeRoy Brown, Indian agent at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
309
395 ' T0 LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift Mss.
Washington, March 28, 1893
My Dear Mr. Sivift: I inclose a dollar for my subscription to the Chronicle.
It gives me great pleasure to say that there has been an error in the
report about our stopping our examinations. We don't stop the examina-
tions for the local post offices at all; and all of the newly classified free de-
livery offices in Indiana will have examinations held for them at the begin-
ning of May. The precise date I will let you know in a day or two. As a
matter of fact, the chief people hurt by our stopping the schedule examina-
tions will be the very people whom the Congressmen hostile to us wish
to benefit. Since the change of administration there has been an enormous
increase in the number of people who applied for examinations, notably in
Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, these examinations being for places in
the departmental service; and in at least half of the instances, and I think
in very much more than half, they were people who applied to their
Congressmen for office, and were told by them that they would have to
pass the civil service examination first. A great many of these people are
from the districts of Congressmen Holman and Dockery of Indiana and Mis-
souri, the two men who were chiefly instrumental in refusing the emer-
gency appropriation which we asked for. I wish you would point out how
the result of their action has been simply to damage their own constituents,
and, as it happens, especially those of their constituents who are seeking
office as Democrats because of the change of administration.
When the free delivery offices were classified we had two courses open
to us. One was to go ahead with the work we had already laid out — that
is, the regular schedule of examinations, etc. — and defer action upon the
classification of the new offices until Congress should grant us an appropria-
tion. This I positively refused to do, insisting that we should go ahead and
classify the new offices heedless of whether there was a shortage in our
funds or not, and if this shortage did take place, should manage to have
it fall where it would do least damage to the public service, and inter-
fere most with the plans of our spoils-hunting friends. All the Congressmen
hostile to us were very anxious that we should hold the regular schedule
of examinations and should economize by not classifying the new offices,
and have been very bitter over our proceeding with the classification of
the new offices and economizing by striking out a portion of our schedule
examinations, which will result in very little harm to the public service if
any, and will merely put to inconvenience the constituents of the Congress-
men who refused to grant us the very small sum for which we asked.
If I haven't made the thing clear to you pray write and tell me. I do
wish that you and Foulke could institute inquiries in the different towns
where there are free delivery offices in Indiana to find out the character
of the men whom we have put upon our boards and the character of the
310
offices. In choosing our boards we have been obliged to strike very much
at random, and doubtless have in some cases got unfit members, and we
are especially anxious to get first-hand information \vherever such is the
fact. Moreover, we very much wish that in all of these towns we could be
put in communication with some respectable citizen who would be inter-
ested in telling us whether the law was or was not being observed.
With warm regards to Mrs. Swift, Cordially yours
396 ".TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ
Washington, March 28, 1893
My Dear Mr. Schurz: All right; I will tell Leupp what you say. I saw Mr.
Cleveland the Monday after he was inaugurated and had a very pleasant half
hour's chat with him, substantially the same character as that which I had
with him on the day that you so kindly took me round there. I have heard
nothing from him since, and know absolutely nothing as to his plans. As I
wrote you before, I will stay if he wishes it, provided, always, that he has a
good commission. It would be folly for me to try to accomplish anything as
a Republican fighting Democratic colleagues over the actions of Democratic
spoilsmen under a Democratic administration. I don't mean folly for my
own fortunes, because they would not be affected by it. On the contrary,
[ would gain credit rather than otherwise; but I mean that it would not
benefit the reform nor the administration. I do hope that he gets a first-
class commission, and if he does I care very little whether he retains me
or not. I am so interested in the work that while I should be pleased to
go on with it, my chief aim is to see it in good hands and in no danger
of going backwards. Always cordially yours
397 -TO RICHARD WATSON GILDER Roosevelt
Washington, April i, 1893
Dear Gilder: Lodge came to me the other day with the proposal that he
and I jointly write an article for the Century upon what the last census has
shown concerning immigration, — that is, the distribution of the immi-
grants throughout the country, with the curious differences shown in the
different localities to which the different races go, the number of paupers
and criminals that they furnish, and the general bearing of the statistics
upon the problem of controlling immigration. Would you care for such
an article, and if you do care for it would you care to publish it within
a reasonable length of time? The census of course is not an annual serial
story, but still the lessons it teaches grow less valuable the further one
goes from the date of its publication. In the next place, on my own hook,
I have simmering in my mind an article which I thought I would like to
submit to you apropos of the recent comparison by Andrew Lang, wherein
311
he said it was "not critical" to speak of a certain three verses of Lowell's
magnificent war poetry as better than any three verses of the Song of
Roland for instance. Now, of course they are infinitely better, and I thought
I might use this as a text to speak of the fetiches of the irrational adoration
of things merely because they are old, using certain of Lowell's poetry and
two or three of the speeches of Abraham Lincoln, and possibly one or two
of the fights in Napier's Peninsular War, as illustrating what I mean. There
is nothing in Demosthenes or Cicero which comes up to Lincoln's Gettys-
burg speech and second inaugural, and I don't believe there is much that
surpasses the speeches of Burke and Webster. My idea would be to have
an article of four or five pages in length only. Would this be enough in
your line to warrant my setting to work on it and submitting the piece
to you to reject or accept? I wish you would ask your brother, by the way,
whether he received something I sent to him for the Critic in reference to
the SeiDanee Review. I haven't had any answer to it.
I suppose my cowboyland article will be out in your May number,
will it not? From what Putnams write me I gather that their book will be
ready sometime in May. However, of course, it could be put off until
the first of June. Cordially yours
398 -TO WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE Foulke
Washington, April 3, 1893
My Dear Foulke: How about our local board; have you found anything out
yet? I greatly wish you could put yourself in communication with the dif-
ferent free delivery offices in Indiana, or, rather, with first-class citizens
interested in civil service reform in each of the towns so that we will be
able in the first place to find out something about our boards and how they
are acting, and in the next place exercise some kind of check to the clean
sweep which will undoubtedly be attempted by at least certain of the incom-
ing postmasters. Congressman Bynum1 waltzed into this office the other day
evidently in a warlike frame of mind on the subject, and fully intending to
make clean sweeps wherever possible. Cordially yours
399 • TO WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE Foulke M.SS.
Washington, April 13, 1893
Dear Foulke: I am very much afraid that Mrs. Roosevelt and I won't be able
to get out to Richmond this spring, much though I should like to; so I fear
we shall have to defer our acceptance of your attractive invitation.
I am glad you are keeping an oversight upon affairs at Richmond. I
should be much pleased to have you attend the examination to be held there,
1 William D. Bynum, Democratic congressman from Indiana, 1885-1895; spoilsman-,
in 1893 one of die arbiters of federal patronage for the Indianapolis region.
312
and also to have you state through the local papers that all applicants for
the public service can apply entirely without regard to their political affilia-
tions, and that they will be treated with entire impartiality by the Commis-
sion. Please show this letter as authority for your admission to the examina-
tion if there is any question about it, and also as authority for the admission
of any other reputable citizens whom you would like to take in with you.
The papers themselves cannot be examined until marked here.
With regards to Mrs. Foulke, Sincerely yours
400 • TO JAMES s. CLARKSON Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 22, 1893
My Dear General Clarkson: It was, as always, a great pleasure to me to hear
from you. As you say, though you and I may differ, I think we always keep
our respect and liking for each other, and are likely to do so as long as we
both continue to speak frankly and openly. Be sure and let me know if you
come to Washington.
Now, I am sorry to say it will be out of the question for me to be at
Louisville. I already have an engagement for the nth, and on the 9th must
be in New York; but even if this were not so I question whether it would
be well for me to be present now. It has always been hard drawing the line
at exactly what I was and what I was not at liberty to do. My idea has been
to take a sufficiently active part in the elections, both by speech and con-
tribution, to make it evident that I was a thoroughgoing Republican, and
yet not seem to do too much political work, or of a kind that my office
forbade; so I am going to ask you not to quote this letter, but to consider it
as private and for your own use only.
Of course as yet matters haven't gone very far, and it is hard to make
very much of an issue; but there is one thing that I personally feel very
strong about, and that is about hauling down the flag at Hawaii. I am a bit
of believer in the manifest destiny doctrine. I believe in more ships; I believe
in ultimately driving every European power off of this continent, and I
don't want to see our flag hauled down where it has been hauled up.
I have thought a good deal over your suggestion of the election of post-
masters by the people, and I hardly know what to say to it. I don't think
it ought to be done in the larger offices, but I should think that in the
fourth class post offices the plan might perhaps be a good one, if other meth-
ods failed of getting security of tenure. Have you looked over Lodge's
Fourth Class Postmasters bill? It might be worth your while to do so.
On the general subject of civil service reform my advice now would be
the same as it was to the National Convention one year ago; don't promise
more than we can perform. State that we believe in the principles of civil
service reform; that we believe the civil service law should be executed with
rigid impartiality in letter and spirit, and that the classified service should
be extended as rapidly as the conditions of good administration warrant. It
would have been much better for us to have said simply this five years ago
rather than go into the sweeping declarations in which we actually indulged,
for we made statements to which we could not live up, and then did not
live up even on points which we might have. If we had simply said that the
law would be enforced rigidly and its application extended as fast as it
became practicable we would have promised what we could have performed,
and would not have committed ourselves to statements which could be
quoted against us whenever there was a change in the unclassified service.
Personally, as you know, I hold extreme views on the question, but I have
never advocated the party's committing itself to more of these views than it
was willing to live up to.
Thanking you most cordially for your kindness in writing me, I am,
Sincerely yours
401 -TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Washington, April 26, 1893
Darling Bye, It was delightful to get your long and most interesting letter;
Edith did read it to me, and so we laughed heartily over the concluding
sentence.
Austin Wadsworth has just been at the Fair, together with two others of
our club, and he has seen to everything about the cabin; so you need not
bother; there has been of course endless trouble about our getting our freight
there.
We will be with you on Sunday the yth; on the evening of the 8th I
have a political dinner; otherwise I am free. I suppose we leave New York
on the i ith.
I saw Cleavland the other day and he asked me to stay for a year or two
longer; I shall therefore probably stay at least a year.
I have been having fearful times with my two colleagues; it is not only
in the World's Fair that we have to do our work imperfectly because of
imperfect tools and hindering associates. Your loving brother
402 -TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift Ms*.
Washington, April 29, 1893
Dear Mr. Sivift: I was very much pleased with the resolutions.1 1 think that
the main and most important thing to dwell upon with the President now
is the carrying out in good faith of the order of classification of the free
delivery post offices.
1 At its annual meeting on April 25-26 in New York City, the National Civil Service
Reform League adopted various resolutions, one of which called for the classification
of fourth-class post offices.
3*4
I am sorry you think of coming here within ten days. I do most earnestly
hope you can have your visit deferred and make it take place about May
23rd. From the 8th to the zzd I shall be off at the World's Fair, which I
visit with Mrs. Roosevelt at that time, and as my accommodations have been
engaged long ago it is not possible for me to alter my plans. I do sincerely
hope you will be able to defer your visit until that date. I should be most
reluctant to be absent when you were here. Moreover, I think that by then
affairs in relation to the free delivery offices will have taken definite shape
and you can argue with more force about them. At present we haven't got
the decision of the Attorney General nor of the Postmaster General upon
certain points which are vital; and until we have these it will be impossible
for us to formulate clearly our own plans, and it is with reference to these
plans that I especially want your advice and assistance and that of the com-
mittee.
Mrs. Roosevelt enjoyed meeting you greatly, and she as well as I send
regards to Mrs. Swift. Cordially yours
403 • TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN Mohan Ms$.Q
Washington, May i, 1893
My dear Captain Mohan, Last evening Lodge, Harry Davis, Admiral Luce
and I held a solemn council of war, with your last letter to me as a text; and
as a result, taking advantage of Herbert's absence,1 I went up to see Mac-
Adoo, who is much more civilized, today. He is on our side; but he can do
very little. I fear all hope for the War College (which is nothing without
you) has gone; our prize idiots here have thrown away the chance to give
us an absolutely unique position in Naval affairs; but I made a very strong
bid to at least give you the Miantonomah. The obstacle is of course Ram-
say,2 who is bitterly opposing it, or anything else that may help you; he is
a blind, narrow, mean, jealous pedant; if I can ever do him a bad turn I
most certainly will — and I'll see that Lodge does. Lodge will see Herbert
about the Miantonomah business.
Oh, what idiots we have had to deal with! And those "Century" geese!
Well-meaning, good people, the Century folks; but their writing that there
were not three men in the navy who could do your work was as if some
one had said there were not ten men in the Navy who could do Farragut's.
1 Hilary Abner Herbert, a Confederate soldier, was a congressman from Alabama,
1877-1893. Cleveland appointed him Secretary of the Navy. While in the House he
consistently advocated the increase of the Navy; as Secretary he continued his efforts
for naval expansion against the opposition of a reluctant Congress.
•Francis Munroe Ramsay, Rear Admiral, US.N.; a brave and efficient junior officer
in the Civil War, an orthodox and powerful member of the naval hierarchy in later
years. As chief of the Bureau of Navigation, 1889-1897, he objected to Mahan's activi-
ties because "naval officers do not write books" and he resolutely opposed the Naval
War College apparently in the belief that they should not read them.
Your article on Saumerez8 was admirable; of course you will gather all
these short essays into a volume some day. By the way, was the action you
alluded to as ranking with Rodney's, that of Hawke? Faithfully yours
404 • TO WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE Foulke
Washington, May 3, 1893
My Dear Foulke: I hope you will be able to attend the examination at Rich-
mond next Saturday, and tell us how it goes.
Now, I want you if possible to do me another favor. Very grave charges,
specifically setting forth the details, have been preferred against our boards
for the post offices at Evansville and Terre Haute,1 saying that they have
refused to give application blanks to certain applicants who were Democrats,
while giving them to Republicans. I don't much fancy the sources from
which these charges came, but they were so specific that we could not disre-
gard them, and accordingly we have deferred the examinations at those two
points, one to May i3th and the other to May zoth, and arranged for one of
our own men to conduct the examinations and investigate the charges. Of
course, exactly as to have disregarded these charges would have seemed to
favor Republicans, there is risk that deferring the examinations will give the
impression that the Democrats are to have some advantage. Now, will you
not give me the names of two good men in each of those places, by prefer-
ence the names of Independents or Republicans, and, if possible, with some
civil service reform affiliations, to whom I can write asking them to attend
the examinations and see that all is fair, and to see that in the press there are
statements made that the Commission guarantees fair play to all applicants,
Democrats and Republicans alike. I think this an important thing to do.2
•Alfred Thayer Mahan, "Admiral Saumerez," Atlantic Monthly, 71:605-619 (May
1893).
1 These charges, made by Senator Voorhees, were part of a general attempt by the
Democrats to delay the classification of the free delivery service. The situation was
similar to that which prevailed in the Railway Mail Service at the end of the first
Cleveland administration. Harrison had given the order for classification after the
election of 1892. Since in March 1893 classification was still incomplete, widespread
dismissals of Republicans in the service began. Attorney General Olney ruled that
classification should be considered complete in each individual post office when
the first examination was given. A general purge of Republicans on the day before
the examination followed; nearly a clean sweep occurred in the post offices of Platts-
burg, New York; Topeka and Kansas City, Kansas; Galesburg, Bloomington, and
Quincy, Illinois; Athens, Columbus, and Rome, Georgia; Anderson, Indiana; Little
Rock, Arkansas; and Paducah, Kentucky. At Terre Haute, Senator Voorhees' charges
resulted in the postponement of the examination from May 6 to May 13. On May 12
the new postmaster took possession of the office by force and removed the Repub-
lican employees. Postmaster General Wilson Shannon Bissell, who strongly supported
the Civil Service Commission, refused to approve this action.
•Roosevelt wrote a similar letter to Lucius B. Swift on the same date.
405 ' TO LUCIUS BURRTE SWIFT Sisift MSS.°
Chicago, May 16, 1893
Dear Mr Sivift, From Avhat I see in the Chicago papers things have a very
ugly look at Terre Haute; I think we shall have to make a test case of it. I
shall be back in Washington Monday next. Well you write me anything you
find out? We must pull on the same lines — especially as I may be opposed
within the Commission by Johnson, who has been the ardent champion of
Senator Voorhis in this Terre Haute matter.1 I hope he will be all right
now. It is very unfortunate that the Democratic member of the Commission
should be inclined to side with the men who believe in a lax interpretation
of the law, in view of the fact that the Democrats are now in power. I have
written the Commission, that in view of this incident, and of the recent
decision of the Att'y Gen'l, we are now justified in refusing to defer another
examination, and that I shall refuse my consent to so deferring one hereafter,
however reluctant I am to antagonize the Democratic member of the Com-
mission when dealing with Democratic complaints.
Warm regards to Mrs. Swift. Cordially yours
406'TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
Chicago, May 16, 1893
Dear Mr. Swift, I have been so puzzled and worried about this Terre Haute
business that you must excuse my sending you such a shoal of letters.
On second thoughts I think it would be best not to have either you or
Foulke meet me at Terre Haute; it might appear to prejudice our case, and
we wish to make no mistakes; it is a serious fight. So please send me a full
letter of advice, with the names of the people whom I ought to see, etc. I
will telegraph you tomorrow for the name of the hotel where I am to stay
at Terre Haute; send the letter there. Also tell me the name of the hotel in
Indianapolis where I shall stay. I will reach Terre Haute early Friday morn-
ing; I think I shall be able to take the train for Indianapolis at say about five
that afternoon; then arrange to have you and Foulke meet me at the hotel
in Indianapolis that evening or early Saturday morning, as I must go on to
New York at once; I ought to reach there some time on Sunday, before
1 George Doherty Johnston, appointed in 1892 by Harrison, was the successor of
Governor Thompson as Civil Service Commissioner. His service as a Confederate
brigadier was much on his mind and had prejudiced his views concerning the Repub-
lican party. He stood prepared to protect both his person and his views with a re-
volver which he always carried. Roosevelt feared he might have a physical encounter
with his fellow commissioner on a number of occasions. The final altercation be-
tween Johnston and Roosevelt took place over the Ninth Annual Report in Novem-
ber 1893. Johnston, among other things, complained about the number of Republicans
employed in the classified service. Cleveland offered Johnston two diplomatic posts
but wnen both were refused summarily dismissed the "old fire eater."
3*7
evening, if possible; perhaps I can get a midnight train from Indianapolis if
I see you in the evening. Sincerely yours
407 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift M.SS.
Telegram May, 1893
Telegraph me Raymond and Whitcomb Grand Chicago name Terre Haute
Hotel and send me there by Friday morning full letter about post office.
408 • TO CARL SCHURZ Schurz Mss.°
Washington, May 27, 1893
Dear Air. Schurz, Doubtless by the time you receive this you will have seen
the report of my Terre Haute investigation in the papers. It was a bad busi-
ness. I wrote as mildly as I conscientiously could; had I been of the same
party as the Administration I think I should have recommended the Post-
master's dismissal. You will see what I say in the report about the non-
exception of chiefs of division etc. I regard this as most important. I am
glad Secretary Carlisle favors it; but I do not understand why he gives his
son such a free hand in his spoils antics.
By the way, I believe I have discovered a first class southern Democrat
for Civil Service Commissioner. He is Proctor,1 for many years State Geolo-
gist of Kentucky, an ex-confederate soldier, and the author of tariff-reform
documents which were circulated by the hundred thousand by the Demo-
cratic National Committee. He is a strong civil service Reformer, the inti-
mate friend of Gilder, Dudley Warner and men of that stamp; and he posi-
tively refused, while Geologist, to allow politics to enter into his survey. I
think the President is favorably inclined to him; your talk did great good.
Cordially yours
P.S. Will you kindly send me back the "Indian Service" paper I sent you
to the Arlington? What did you think of it?
409 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchWTZ
Washington, June 4, 1893
Dear Mr. Schwz, Did you ever receive the Indian Agent report by me,
which I sent you at the Arlington? When you are entirely through with it
I should like it back.
Mr. Dorman B. Eaton1 was down here last week. I doubt if he accom-
1 John Robert Proctor, who served with Roosevelt on the Civil Service Commission,
supported his policies, and later became president of the commission.
1 Dorman Bridgman Eaton, lawyer and civil service reformer. With Curtis and
Schurz, Eaton led the fight for the merit system. He served on the Civil Service
Commission under Presidents Grant, Arthur, and Cleveland, assisted in drafting the
Pendleton Act, and published a pioneer study of the problems of municipal govern-
ment.
plished much; but whatever he did do was mischievous. He was anxious to
have us "conciliate" everybody (including Voorhis), not to press the chiefs
of division business, if possible to leave half of the free deliver)' offices
unclassified until the Democrats could put in all their own men, etc etc.
Faithfully yours
410-10 JOHN N. BOGERT Roosevelt AIss.
Washington, June 7, 1893
Dear Sir: The delay in answering your letter is due to the fact that I immedi-
ately sent it on to our local boards at the New York custom house and post
office for their comments, and I have only this morning received their an-
swers. I will take up your points seriatim:
1. There is, unfortunately, a delay in furnishing the results of the exami-
nations, but this is not due to the fault of the Commission, but to the fact
that we have no provision made by Congress to pay our examiners, who
consequently have to do the work of marking the papers in extra time in
addition to their regular work. They mark the papers as fast as they can.
We are even now working on a scheme to see if we cannot enable them to
do their work a little quicker; but the prime need is that Congress should
give us enough money to enable us to do what we ought to. From sheer
lack of force we are now two months behind in marking the papers for the
departmental service.
2. As regards advertisements, we have, in the first place, no appropriation
at all. The examinations for the custom house and post office come at stated
times, and we have found that to post a notice in the corridors gives ample
publicity as a matter of fact. When we have advertised in the papers the
result has been to create an impression that there was a greater need for
applicants than was really the case, and as a consequence the boards have
been literally flooded. If there is any class of citizens, however, who think
that they are kept in ignorance of the examinations of course we will take
steps to see that they are informed, and if you will send me the name of any
person to whom to write in the Daily Nerj:s office I will direct that he be
given full information concerning the next examination. We already have
a very large number of applicants for these places, and we do not wish to
seem to hold out false hopes of appointment by inviting men needlessly.
3. The Commission has never thought of giving evening examinations,
for the simple reason that you are the first person who has ever proposed to
us to do so. The facilities for lighting the large rooms are small, and we
could therefore only give these examinations to limited classes. You are in
error, however, in believing that two hours is the average time employed by
each candidate. Some of our examinations take seven, some five, or even a
less number of hours. Some of the people work up to the full limit. Most
do not, and some take a very much shorter time than they are allowed; but
the percentage that employ only two hours and yet pass successfully is not
large enough to be taken into serious account. The bulk of our letter car-
riers, openers and packers, and the like, are, I believe, obtained from among
working people; and curiously enough this is the first request we have ever
had for evening examinations. However, I shall certainly lay the matter
before the Commission.
Thanking you for your courtesy in writing, I am, Very truly yours
4H -TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Matthews
Washington, June 8, 1893
Dear Brander, I am really pleased that you liked my Century article,1 for I
felt very doubtful over it; and the Wholly Innocent Man had to have all the
snap taken out of his speech.
I saw Kipling's article and thought it quite good; I certainly can not
hazard any guess concerning your Trombone — Frog. By the way, without
altogether agreeing with all of Boyeson's positions,2 I most emphatically do
agree with what he said about your reviewing; we have hardly any good
reviewers, and I do hope you will keep up your work of this sort. And the
Essays too! It will be long before I read other essays as good as those in
Americanisms and Briticisms.
Indeed Chicago 'was worth while. The buildings make, I verily believe,
the most beautiful architectural exhibit the world has ever seen. If they were
only permanent! That south lagoon, with the peristyle cutting it off from
the lake, the great terraces, the grandeur and beauty of the huge white build-
ings, the statue, the fine fountains, the dome of the administration building,
the bridges guarded by the colossal animals — well, there is simply nothing
to say about it. And the landscape effects are so wonderful. In the fine-arts
building, by the way, did you not like the "Death arresting the hand of the
sculptor," and the "Peace Sign," the quiet pose of the naked warrior on the
naked horse?
In a week or so you will receive my "Wilderness Hunter." Just glance
at the fourth chapter, because I know you like out-of-doors things, and at
the last, for the sake of the allusions to Washington.
Warm regards to Mrs. M. Yours
412 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ
Washington, June 8, 1893
Dear Mr. Schurz: Many thanks for sending me back my report. I am de-
lighted that you approve it. Do you think there would be any objection to
1 Theodore Roosevelt, "In Cowboy-Land," Century Magazine, 46:276-284 (June
1893).
'Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, native of Norway, was professor of Germanic languages
and literatures at Columbia University. A poet and critic, his best work is to be
found in the tales and novels of Norway that he wrote for children.
320
having it made public, say in Good Government or elsewhere? I use pretty
strong language about both parties, and of course I am criticizing actions of
men who were not under the civil sen-ice law. I only question if I have a
right really to do this, or, rather, whether Mr. Cleveland would not have a
right to feel irritated if I did. What do you think of the matter?
Now, as to Mr. Eaton's views. Air. Eaton came down here filled with
the idea of conciliating the Democrats by letting them loot at least half the
post offices prior to the time examinations should be held in them. He an-
nounced this as his view to me in the presence of Leupp, and he substantially
told the same thing to General Johnston. He entirely declined to take any
interest in the proposition to include chiefs of division and the other excepted
places in the lists covered by competent examinations. In reference to the
offices with ten employes, and under he urged our suspending their classifi-
cation. I explained to him then that half of them had already been classified,
examinations having been held in them and eligible registers being now in
preparation for them, and that for the remaining half examinations have been
ordered to be held during the month of June; so that by the first of July
they will all be classified. It is perfectly true that these two hundred small
offices are the very ones in which the law works to least advantage. They
make an immense amount of trouble for the Commission with proportion-
ately far less result than in the large offices. There is bound to be a good deal
of evasion of the law in them, and I should have much rather seen the clas-
sified service extended to other offices, such as the larger custom houses and
internal revenue offices, than to these little post offices. Nevertheless, the
step has been taken, and I should be very reluctant to go backward without
very full consideration, and not then unless there were an absolute necessity.
We can't suspend their classification. They are already classified, and we
would have to deliberately unclassify them and throw them open to the
spoilsmen. This is a very serious responsibility to take, and Mr. Eaton has
no business to advocate such a course unless he has given the matter a good
deal more sober attention than he had when he was here in Washington. In
our annual report I shall state the case fully and freely as regards these small
offices, explaining that while the Commission can guarantee that good will
come in the great majority of instances in the classification of the large
offices, in the very small ones the system is as yet on trial and the Commis-
sion is waiting to see what results will appear. I know already, however, that
in certain of them good has come; for instance at Marietta, Ohio. I find out
that whereas under the old system there would be an immediate change of
the entire force, Democratic politicians being put in; now most of these
Democratic politicians decline to take the examination, and the few who
have taken it are young men of high character, who would not have been
appointed under the old system. We shall therefore as a result of the opera-
tions of the law see in Marietta, for some time to come at least, instead of a
gang of Democratic politicians succeeding a gang of Republican politicians,
a mixed force of reputable men of both parties. This is of course upon the
assumption that there is not a clean sweep made prior to the examination,
which takes place a week from Saturday.
In reference to the course of the administration, I must say this much for
the Post Office Department: Most emphatically both Mr. Bissell and the
First Assistant, Mr. Jones, are far more favorably disposed to the law and
are far more willing to do what they can to see it legitimately enforced than
was the case under the last administration. On the other hand, in the Treas-
ury Department, I regret to say, there seems to have been a falling off, com-
pared with what it was before. The whole spirit is bad, the chief cause being
that that type of spoilsman, young Carlisle, has succeeded in setting the tone
of the place.1 About the other departments I would not yet be willing to
pass judgment.
This is of course for yourself only. Very cordially yours
413 -TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN Mahan MSS.Q
Oyster Bay, June 13, 1893
Dear Captain Mahan, 1 greatly enjoyed the clipping from the Tribune. What
a real donkey the Evening Post is! and what fearful mental degeneracy
results from reading it, or the Nation as a steady thing — witness Judge
Cooley. Well, I hate to have you abandon our own war-history, even tem-
porarily; but you are the one man to write a history of Nelson, and such a
history we ought to have.
Good luck go with you! Very faithfully yours
414 • TO c. N. H. GAUSHELL Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 20, 1893
Dear Sir: Under ordinary circumstances I should have been very glad to
receive as long and frank a letter from the secretary of one of our boards
as I have received from you, but I confess that at present anything in rela-
tion to Quincy, Bloomington, or Galesburg, 111., leaves a rather bitter taste
in my mouth. The three offices were looted precisely as four years ago por-
tions of the railway mail service were looted, and the scandal is as great in
one case as in the other. Under the Attorney General's decision we could
do nothing with those offices until the examinations were held in them, and
so we are absolutely powerless. I think the examination in Quincy must have
been perfectly fair, as our own man conducted it.
I am now going up to see the Postmaster General about the appointment
1 While John Griffin Carlisle was Secretary of the Treasury, 1893-1897, he turned
over the problem of appointments to his son, Logan, who "openly sneered at the
law" and removed Republicans with ruthless dispatch. The Civil Service Commission
became particularly incensed at the removal without cause of a number of Negroes -
mostly women — from the engraving division.
322
of the substitutes you mention, but I fear we will be unable to do anything
concerning it.
I am delighted to hear what you say as to the belief of the businessmen
of Quincy in the system, and I heartily appreciate the interest you have
yourself taken therein. With many thanks, Cordially yours
4 1 5 • TO GROVER CLEVELAND Roosevelt
Washington, June 24, 1893
Sir: We1 respectfully invite your attention to a grave matter, seriously
affecting the welfare of the public service, and the usefulness and efficiency
of the Civil Service Commission.
Last February we were abreast of the work which the Commission had
to do. Practically all the papers for the departmental and railway mail serv-
ices, as well as for the various local offices, were marked, and there were no
arrears of work. Then the examinations for the newly classified free delivery
offices began. The great number of these offices, and the fact that the people
composing our boards in them were entirely new to the work, and therefore
committed many errors, threw an enormous amount of work upon the Com-
mission's hands, an amount of work with which our force of examiners was
totally unable to cope. We have fallen steadily more and more behindhand.
For three months we have been unable to mark any of the departmental and
railway mail papers, save those where there was a pressing demand. In con-
sequence there are in the files of the Commission now awaiting to be marked
the papers of many hundreds of applicants who took the examination three
months ago, and it may be months yet before these applicants are placed on
the eligible registers or told their standing. Although, however, having
turned all our attention to the new free delivery offices we have not even
been able to keep up with these, and we are falling steadily behind, the new
papers that come in always exceeding the number of papers that the board
is able to mark and send out. We are now, in all, five thousand papers be-
hind. After July the summer routes of examinations will begin, and early in
August come the regular semiannual examinations for all the post offices.
Unless an additional force is detailed to us immediately the Commission will
soon be literally swamped with work.
At present twenty-two men are detailed to our central board of examin-
ers from the different departments, as follows: Department of the Interior, 8;
Treasury Department, 5; Post Office Department, 4; War Department, 3;
Department of Agriculture, 2; none being detailed from the Navy Depart-
ment, State Department or Department of Justice. Of this board of twenty-
two men, however, the chairman of the board reports that but twelve are
competent examiners. There are thus two features in connection with our
board which deserve especial notice. The first is that we do not have a suffi-
1 This letter was signed by Roosevelt and George D. Johnston, as commissioners.
3*3
cient force detailed to us from certain departments, notably the Post Office
Department. The second is that of those detailed to us very many are incom-
petent and unfit to do the work.
As to the first point, it is to be noticed that of the twenty-two clerks
now detailed to act on our central board but four come from the Post Office
Department, and yet over half of the work of this board is done for the
Post Office Department. Until within the last few months we had hardly any
representation at all from this department. In other words, the Post Office
Department furnishes less than a fifth of the force, and yet has to have over
half of the work done for it. This of course means that the men from the
Department of the Interior, for instance, have to do a large part of the work
for the Post Office Department. The Navy Department gives us no men at
all, and we have had no men from that department since July two years ago.
We should have two men from the Navy Department. The Treasury De-
partment is the one for which we do most work next to the Post Office
Department and the Department of the Interior. We should have at least
two more men from this department. We then ought to have at least four
more men from the Post Office Department, to put it in a position where
there will be anything like an equality between the work done for it and
the men detailed to us to do that work. These details would increase the
present board by eight, giving us thirty instead of twenty-two members.
The second point is quite as important. It appears from what has been
stated above that of the twenty-two members we now have, only twelve
are competent. The other ten are inferior clerks who have been detailed to
us because they were such, who are now serving on the board and are
charged with the responsibility of marking examination papers when they
themselves could not pass a creditable examination. It is certainly a great
injury to candidates to have their papers marked by examiners who are not
qualified to pass judgment upon them; and there are many of the members
of the board who are not capable of performing more than a quarter of the
work which is done by the most efficient members, although they them-
selves receive the same salaries that these efficient members do. This arises
from the evil of the system of detailing these clerks to us. At present, al-
though the clerks work under the Commission, the Commission has no
power of discharging or reducing them, and no power of selecting those
who shall take their places. The departments very naturally object to detail-
ing their efficient men. The temptation is almost irresistible to detail those
who cannot do good work, but whom, from motives of sympathy or because
of the influence which is back of them, the departments do not like to dis-
charge. The Commission has been obliged often to struggle on with this
inefficient material. Of course damage is done not only to the work of the
Commission, but it is also done by demoralizing the efficient clerks who are
detailed to us, as well as the Commission's own force. When the Commission
finds itself absolutely unable to get along with the inefficient men detailed
3*4
to it and sends them back to the departments from which they came, the
result in most cases is that we merely have others just as inefficient detailed
to take their places, and in some cases we never get any men returned to
us at all. This, for example, was the case with the Navy Department. Two
years ago we had two men detailed to us from the Navy Department. They
were entirely inefficient and we were forced to send them back, but we
have ever since failed to get any persons in their places, and in consequence
the Navy Department has remained for two years without representation
on our board of examiners. There is absolutely no benefit whatsoever to be
derived from the present system of detailing examiners. No advantage results
on the score of economy, because the men who do our work as examiners
have absolutely no time to devote to any other service; and a very great
loss results on the score of efficiency. All the men detailed to us as exam-
iners should by law be transferred to the rolls of the Commission. Congress
should be urged in the strongest possible terms to take this course. It would
not necessitate the expenditure of a dollar additional. All that has to be done
is in the appropriation bill to appropriate for these men on our rosters in-
stead of on the rosters of the departments from which they are at present
detailed. No loss would result QO the departments, because the men are not
now serving with them, and a very great gain would result to the Commis-
sion. The radical and necessary step therefore is to have Congress appropri-
ate for this force on our own rosters, putting these men on an equality with
those of our own force who are already working side by side with them,
and in many cases doing the same kind of work; but in the meanwhile im-
mediate steps can be taken by the President, through the heads of the depart-
ments, to relieve the evils complained of. They are susceptible of immediate
relief. In the first place the delinquent departments enumerated above should
be directed to furnish the details of men given above, so as to bring the total
number detailed to us up to eight from the Post Office Department, eight
from the Department of the Interior, seven from the Treasury, three from
the War, two from the Navy, and two from the Department of Agriculture.
In the next place the President can request the heads of the departments to
treat the force detailed to us as entirely under our control in the matters of
removal and appointment. The Commission is the body for which these
detailed men work, and the Commission should have the say about them.
The President can specifically request that any recommendations of the
Commission in reference to appointments and removals among these detailed
men, or in reference to transfers from this force of detailed men to the force
of the Commission and vice versa, shall be at once favorably acted upon by
the different departments. If this is done the Commission will gladly notify
the departments that it will take any men detailed to it. Under such circum-
stances when an inefficient man is detailed to us, instead of having to keep
him because of the probability of getting no better one in his place, and
the possibility of getting no one at all, the Commission would, after proper
3*5
warning and trial, drop him from the roster. We would supply his place, if
he was of low grade, direct from the register of eligibles. If he was of high
grade we would promote one of our own efficient low grade men by trans-
ferring him to his place and would fill the resulting vacancy from the eligi-
ble registers. The best possible proof of the excellent working of the civil
service law is the fact that the Commission itself has always found in its own
experience that it gets admirable men from the eligible registers, and the
Commission will guarantee to bring the detailed force of examiners up to
the highest point of efficiency in a very few months if allowed to thus
dismiss all incompetent men who may be detailed to it and to fill their places
from the eligible registers in the manner given above. The Commission is
well aware of some of the troubles that will attend the following out of this
course. Beyond a question some men would be detailed to the Commission
from the departments because, though inefficient, the departments do not
wish to dismiss them, for fear of incurring odium by so doing. Many of the
men whom the departments thus dislike to dismiss have strong political
backing, and to turn them out means very possibly to embroil the Commis-
sion with Members of Congress or other influential politicians. Yet others
are men who have rendered good public service, but who, from age or in-
firmity, are no longer capable of rendering it, and who therefore appeal very
strongly to the sympathies both of the appointing officers and of outsiders.
We understand thoroughly that for the Commission to make these dismissals
would tend to excite the hostility both of the men whose political proteges
are injured, and of outsiders whose sympathies are aroused; but we do not
think that this consideration should prevent the Commission from adopting
the course recommended. The Commission has always strongly insisted that
the civil service law was not meant to protect incompetent men who are in
office. The public service of the country is not to be regarded as an asylum.
Men should be kept in it as long as they render good service, and no longer.
In making discharges where they are imperatively necessary for the good of
the service (and especially in an office where there is so much work to be
done that it is possible to do it only by keeping each individual member
of the force at die highest point of efficiency), not only should no heed be
paid to the political backing of the people discharged, but no heed should
even be paid to considerations of sympathy, however unpleasant it may be
to disregard them. All that the appointing officer should regard is the good
of the service. This is the course that the Commission has advocated being
taken in all the departments, and we believe that the Commission itself
should always be ready to act upon it. If in addition to having the extra
men detailed to us we can provide for having vacancies filled from the
eligible registers, and if we can provide for having all of the men detailed to
the Commission turned out unless they render thoroughly satisfactory serv-
ice, the Commission will at once be able to get abreast of its work, and to
perform it with speed and efficiency. To enable the Commission to do this
it is necessary that this force should be put entirely under its control. Ulti-
326
irately this must be done by Congress, and there is no excuse for its not
being done at once. In the meanwhile, however, the heads of the depart-
ments themselves should act, and we respectfully but earnestly urge the
President to recommend to them that they proceed on the lines above indi-
cated; that is, make up the number of men detailed to us to thirty and give
the control of these men in all matters of discipline and as regards appoint-
ment and removal to the Commission itself. If this control is not given, half
of the good of the new details will be lost. Thus, though the Commission
now has nominally twenty-two men, it has really only twelve; and it is idle
to hold that without some specific and definite' understanding of the kind
named we will ever be able to get good men detailed to us in addition, or
good men substituted for the ten unsatisfactory men now on the board. If,
however, the President will recommend the transfer of the proper number
of details to this Commission, and recommend that the Commission be given
full power over them, then the Commission itself will guarantee to see that
full and satisfactory service is rendered. Every good man detailed to us will
be kept. Every unsatisfactory man, after having been given full trial and
ample warning, will be dismissed and his place supplied from the eligible
registers.2
We have the honor to be, Very respectfully
416 • TO CARL SCHURZ Schurz Mss.
Washington, June 30, 1893
My Dear Mr. Schurz: I understand perfectly the multiplicity of your en-
gagements, and I only wonder that you should have time to write me at all.
I was in Chicago at the time you spoke and I tried to get a chance to speak
to you but was entirely unable to. I shall adopt your advice, and as soon as
I can, without boring him, will ask Mr. Cleveland to look over my Pine
Ridge report. He is so busy, however, that I do not know when I will have
a chance to see him.
As for the reorganization of the Commission, I haven't heard a word
about it. We have one of our own men out investigating the Topeka post
office. Affairs there are precisely as they are at Kansas City, Kansas; at
Plattsburg, N.Y.; at Bloomington, Quincy, and Galesburg, 111.; at Columbus,
Rome and Atlanta, Ga.; at Little Rock, Ark., and at Anderson, Ind. In each
instance advantage has been taken of the necessary delay in preparing exam-
inations to make a clean sweep of the office for political reasons. In other
words, the same thing has been done in these offices and a few others that
was done on a very much larger scale by Mr. Wanamaker in the railway
mail service four years ago. Frankly, I think it would be a good deal better
for President Cleveland if he would be willing to make an example of one
or two of these postmasters. I explained the whole matter in reference to
* Roosevelt sent a similar letter to the chairman of the Joint Committee of Congress
to Inquire into the Laws Organizing the Executive Department.
327
all of the offices under consideration to the Postmaster General. I do not
think anything will be done. The worst offender was the postmaster at
Bloomington, 111., who turned out everybody and allowed his men to pay
the old employes $35 and $5 a day extra apiece to teach them, the new men,
their duties. This postmaster acted under the express directions of Vice-
President Stevenson, whose home is in the town, and whose brother is the
assistant postmaster. Nevertheless the Post Office Department as a whole
shows a very great superiority over what it was under Mr. Wanamaker. I
wish I could make as satisfactory reports for the Treasury and the Depart-
ment of the Interior. Cordially yours
417 • TO HOKE SMITH Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, July 25, 1893
Sir: * The Commission has the honor to make known to you the fact that
the withdrawal of Mr. Blakey, detailed on duty as watchman, leaves us
without any service whatever to properly care for and guard the building
which we occupy, the Government property in our possession and the
books, papers and public records belonging to this office. It is, of course, of
the utmost importance that this service should be provided and this protec-
tion furnished at once. We respectfully request that you make the necessary
detail for this purpose immediately. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant
4 1 8 • TO HOKE SMITH Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 9, 1893
Sir: On July 2oth the Commission made requisition for one table, about
6x4 ft., for the use of the three Commissioners at their daily meetings.
Instead of the table requested, a worn desk has been sent which cannot be
used for the purpose intended.
The Commission respectfully asks that the desk may be removed and
the table furnished according to the original requisition. Very respectfully
419 • TO CARL SCHURZ Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 9, 1893
My Dear Mr. Schurz: Doesn't it seem to you that Harper's Weekly has been
pitching into Postmaster General Bissell too severely recently? x I do not
1 Hoke Smith, a Georgia Democrat who, as owner and editor of the Atlanta Journal,
was credited with carrying the state for Cleveland's nomination in 1892, was ap-
he
pointed by Cleveland as Secretary of the Interior, 1893-1896. In this position
succumbed to the temptation to make partisan appointments and promotions. During
his regime, 630 people — mostly Republicans — were demoted, and 1341 —mostly
Democrats — were promoted.
1 Carl Schurz was at this time a contributor to Harpers Weekly.
328
think it has done him justice, and I feel very strongly that inasmuch as Mr.
Bissell is the best friend we have got in the Cabinet it is a pity to attack him
and leave such almost undisguised foes as Carlisle and Hoke Smith compara-
tively unmolested. As regards the nonclassified service of course I have got
nothing to say. I fear that in the fourth class post offices, judging by the
present rate of progress, the great bulk, in fact the enormous majority, of
the present Republican incumbents will be supplanted by Democrats before
the end of the four years, this being exactly what was done under the pre-
ceding administration. At the same time it is a credit to this administration
even about the fourth class postmasters that they have proceeded far more
decently and in order in the \vork of decapitation. It is of course not a vital
gain, but it is something to have the effort made to remove a smaller and
not a larger number per month than was formerly the case; and this was
exactly the reverse of Clarkson's position under Harrison. But as regards
the civil service law and the execution of it, while of course it has not been
exactly what I should like to have seen, yet not only does Mr. Bissell shine
as a bright light compared to Mr. Wanamaker, but he and his assistants
co-operate with us far more gladly and cheerfully than is the case with any
other department here. Mr. Bissell of course has the great patronage depart-
ment. He has the hardest strain put upon him, and yet on the whole he does
better, and not worse, than any of the other Cabinet officers, and very much
better than his predecessor. I am personally sorry of course that the post-
masters at Topeka and Terre Haute, for instance, were not removed and
examples made of them for their flagrant misconduct; but for this Mr. Bissell
is not in any way responsible. It is Mr. Cleveland himself; and the simple
truth is that Mr. Cleveland is not willing just at this crisis to make Senators
Voorhees and Martin his deadly foes by removing the postmasters of their
home towns. It would be accepted as a challenge to a fight to the death by
either of them, I am not apologizing for Mr. Cleveland's attitude; I am sim-
ply stating it so that it shall not be felt that this is a sin peculiarly Mr. Bis-
sell's. I feel that Mr. Bissell is on the whole more inclined to favor us than
any other man in the Cabinet. There are no scandals in his department
in the way of the sweeping reduction of Republican clerks and the sweeping
promotion of Democrats in their places, this cannot be said of Mr. Carlisle
and Mr. Hoke Smith in the Treasury and the Interior, in both of which de-
partments, and notably in the former, there has been a marked falling off
in the observance paid to the civil service law. The presence of Logan Car-
lisle and the free liberty given to him, in the interests of the spoilsmen, to
remove faithful heads of divisions and the like is a very serious scandal and
works real harm to the law. And the course followed in the pension depart-
ment in reference to the choosing of boards of pension examiners and to the
arrangement of the force inside even, has been such as to make disinterested
outsiders lose confidence at the beginning in the projected work of pension
3*9
reform by the administration. But for all this there has been no parallel in
the Post Office Department. It is true, I regret to state, that in a certain
number of cases the incoming postmasters were allowed to loot the free
delivery post offices before we could establish examinations at them. Some
two or three hundred positions were thus looted, precisely as in the railway
mail service twenty-three hundred were looted under Mr. Wanamaker. This
of course ought not to have been allowed, but it is to the credit of the Post
Office Department that although the strain upon it owing to the classification
at the very end of the term of this multitude of free delivery offices by
President Harrison was far severer than was the case when President Harri-
son took office, the Post Office Department has stood up far better under
the strain this time than it did four years ago. Taking into comparison, for
instance, merely the number of places thus looted, they were several times as
numerous under Mr. Wanamaker as under Mr. Bissell; and moreover, I
know of my own personal knowledge that whereas Postmaster General
Wanamaker strove his best to get the application of the classification of the
railway mail service delayed so as to give room to the politicians to make
changes, Postmaster General Bissell has in every way that he could facili-
tated our holding the examinations, and has in all cases positively refused to
change the postmaster when the removal was asked for for the purpose of
making the changes in the clerks and carriers under him. Moreover, in all
the work of the Commission the Postmaster General, Mr. Bissell, and the
Assistant Postmaster General, Mr. Jones, and their subordinates have heartily
co-operated with us and have again and again by acting promptly upon sug-
gestions of ours prevented wrongdoing in the local offices.
It would be difficult to overdraw the improvement in the relations of
the defenders of the law to the Post Office Department under Mr. Bissell as
compared to those under Mr. Wanamaker. Of course I do not say that he
has acted entirely as I should like to see the Postmaster General act in refer-
ence to the civil service law, and equally of course I do not know what may
come in the future; but certainly so far he has on the whole been our staunch
friend, and his department has helped us as no other department has, and it
seems to me that it would be wise to choose for attack rather one or two
of the other sinners.
I trust you will pardon me for the frankness in which I write you. I only
do it because of the great kindness with which you have always treated me
and because I am sure you will understand that I write merely in what seems
to me to be the interest of civil service reform, and especially because I
recognize in you the very foremost champion of that reform in the country;
and if I can give you any hint that may be of service to you I am most anx-
ious to do so.
Trusting that I may very soon have the pleasure of seeing you again, I
am, Cordially yours
330
420 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ
Washington, August 13, 1893
Dear Mr. Schurz, Your letter has crossed mine; and it is to me a rather dis-
tressing thing that, having just written you so warmly in the defense of Mr.
Bissell, I should now be obliged to write you that, owing of course to the
mass of duties pressing on him, he has, as shown in the extracts of the letter
you sent me, forgotten what the facts were in the cases to which you refer.
You need not consider this letter confidential; on the contrary you can send
it to Mr. Bissell, so that he may reexamine the matters for himself; he will
find that they are as I state them. I will take up the extracts from the letter
you sent me seriatim. I wish you to get this letter at once; so I send it off
today, Sunday, though of course I have here no documents to which to
refer; tomorrow, I will write you again, to clear up any small point I may
leave doubtful, and to send you what you probably already have, my pub-
lished report on the Terre Haute matter; Mr. Bissell has evidently (and in
the press of business very naturally) forgotten what was in this report;
which, I may mention incidentally there has never been even an attempt to
answer.
i). The scandal about Greiner was related to me in detail by Ex-Con-
gressman Lamb, and the other Voorhis leaders at Terre Haute. Greiner and
his brother-in-law not only denied it, but charged that these same Voorhis
leaders threatened him with it if he would not resign, and offerred to give
him 500 dollars if he would; which the Voorhis leaders in their turn denied.
Personally, I put more trust in the accusations than the denials of each side.
But Greiners physical condition was such that in any event it was proper to
turn him out.
2. Mr. Bissell says "The Civil Service Commission had postponed the
examination for a week. If this had not been done of course no trouble
would have arisen at that point. I do not mean to criticize the Civil Service
Commission at all, because they were loaded down with work" etc. I wish
Mr. Bissell had either re-read or remembered my Terre Haute Report; the
whole situation turned upon the very fact that this examination was post-
poned because of the false charges Senator Voorhis brought against a board,
evidently for the sole purpose of getting a chance for a "clean sweep."
3). As to the row in the office, I need say nothing more than I have said
in my published report. Personally, I think that the subordinates may well
be excused for continuing to obey the old postmaster, who was still acting
as such under telegraphic orders from Washington. The essential feature of
the "insubordination" charge is, to my mind, that according to Postmaster
Donham himself the alleged acts of insubordination took place about three
hours after he had appointed the successors of the men who took part in
them; so that self-evidendy the charge on Donham's part was a mere after-
thought.
331
4). As Mr. Bissell says Donham's new appointments were rejected in
toto, and he was required to choose from the eligible lists. This action re-
flected great honor on the Department; it was a kind of action markedly in
contrast to Mr. Wannamakers in the Baltimore Post OfSce for instance. I
expressed my warm approval of this action, not merely in conversation, but
in a published interview in the newspapers, but always with the reservation
that I entirely disagreed with the "insubordination" part.
5). I am, I confess, not a little surprised that Mr. Bissell should say of
Senator Voorhis "His action throughout the case, as far as I observed or
had any knowledge of it, was entirely honorable, open and above board."
Again I wish Mr. Bissell had looked at my Terre Haute report. Senator
Voorhis by false and baseless and scandalous charges got the examination
deferred; then took advantage of the delay thus dishonorably and under-
handedly secured to try to have the office looted by his local gang; and as
a climax told repeated untruths about the whole matter.
6) As to the "imitators" in Plattsburgh, Kansas City, Topeka, Blooming-
ton, Quincey, Galesburgh, Little Rock, Anderson, Columbus, Rome, and
Augusta (not Atlanta — it was Augusta or Athens, I forget which at the
moment), the question is, not as to the time the postmasters were appointed,
but as to when they made "clean sweeps." At Plattsburgh this preceded
the one at Terre Haute; but at Little Rock, Bloomington, Quincey, Gales-
burgh, and I think all, or almost all, the others, they followed it.
7). Your statement that "In each instance advantage has been taken of
the necessary delay in preparing examinations to make a clean sweep of the
office for partisan reasons" is correct; though "practically clean sweep"
would be technically exact. When politicians speak of a "clean sweep" they
do not mean that every single man in an office is turned out; this is rarely
done even under the spoils system, at the very outset of a change. For in-
stance, in the newly classified free delivery offices, which had been man-
aged on the "clean sweep" basis by the Republicans, in over half there were
one or more democrats left. Mr. Bissell says "Some removals were made in
each office." This is a very mild way of putting it. All were removed in
Topeka, except a solitary letter carrier; not even this exception was made
at Bloomington; one carrier was left at Plattsburgh; one was left at Kansas
City; I think two were left at Galesburg & none at Quincey, but can not be
sure until I see the documents; and so on, and so on. A clean sweep 'was
made in these offices using the word in it's ordinary ^acceptance*.
8) Specific cause was doubtless stated in each case; but of course in
these clean sweep instances the real cause was political, and political only.
The Topeka incident sufficiently shows this; and that incident was typical
rather than exceptional.
9). I do not understand what Mr. Bissell means when he says "In all of
those offices in which examinations had not been held the removals were
only made upon specific cause stated . . . and in all cases the vacancies so
33*
made were filled from the eligible registers/' On the contrary, in none of
the above cases were the resulting vacancies filled from the eligible registers.
This is the very point.
10). Still less do I understand Air. Bissell's saying I approved the Depart-
ments action in all these cases. By simply turning again to my Terre Haute
Report, you will find in the closing portions that I explicitly take up these
cases as being on a par with Wannamakers action in the railway mail serv-
ice, and quote with approval Congressman Harter's denunciation of the
latter. Inasmuch as this report was transmitted to the Postmaster General
before it was printed, it never entered my head that my attitude in the mat-
ter could be misunderstood by him. But it is most true that I have repeatedly
expressed to the Postmaster General the sentiments concerning his general
actions which I expressed in my last letter to you. He has stood up well; he
has done far better than any of his predecessors, at a time when the strain
was very great; where Wannamaker with much less provocation permitted
a clean sweep of some 2300 employees, he has only permitted it in the case
of between 200 and 300; he is our best friend in the cabinet, not even except-
ing Olney1 and Morton; with the possible exception of Windom, and indeed
I think not even excepting Windom, he has done better than any of the
men I have seen in control of the great patronage departments; but as re-
gards these offices under consideration — Bloomington, Topeka, etc — all
that is to be said is what I have said above; as regards them he has yielded
to the pressure; but he has yielded very much less than his predecessors,
although under a greater strain.
n). Again I do not understand quite what Mr. Bissell means when he
says the vacancies created at Topeka by the wholesale dismissal of the old
employees were filled from the eligible registers; they were not so filled at
all, but with persons appointed under the old spoils methods before our
eligible registers were prepared.
What he says in reference to Senator Martin, whose home office is
Topeka, applies also to Senator Voorhis, whose home office is Terre Haute.
The action of the administration at both offices is influenced by a desire to
avoid, just at this critical period, with the financial fight on hand, a conflict
with two Senators of it's own party. Mr. Bissell is not responsible for this
feeling; a feeling I quite understand, though personally of course I believe
it would be better in the long run to disregard it — but from what I have
seen of Washington administrations times are not ripe for such a bold
course as yet. I believe a fight with Voorhis a necessity, if good work is to
be done in Indiana.
12). Mr Bissell has always steadfastly refused to make a change with a
1 Richard Olney, Massachusetts lawyer, Democrat, Attorney General of the United
States, 1893-1895; Secretary of State, 1895-1897. On important matters of state Cleve-
land frequendy relied on Olney, who shaped the policy of the administration during
the Pullman strike and the Venezuelan crisis.
333
view to anticipating our examinations; in two cases for instance I knew of
his refusing such requests to Senator Brice of Ohio. He has helped us in
every way to get all the money order offices classified — again a marked
contrast to Wannamaker's action.
I think it a decided advance to require charges for removal; but these
charges should of course be shown to the accused, for his answer, and
should be made public if he so desires.
Pray let me know at once if you wish me to make any further explana-
tion on any point. Most Sincerely Yours
421 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MsS.°
Washington, August 16, 1893
Darling Bye, From your letter I fear you did not get the two notes I wrote
you; I hope sincerely you did, as the last contained Elliott's letter and
Corinne's answer. She has done most valuable service about this business,
and at a time when none of the rest of us could do. It was such a comfort
getting a glimpse of her and old Douglas at Oyster Bay. Now I am looking
forward to finding you there when I get back on the 2yth or thereabouts.
You dear Bye, I am very much flattered that you should have had nice
things said about me to you; for I love to stand well in your eyes. But un-
fortunately what I am doing leads "no forrader" and I do not see any ele-
ment of permanence or chance of permanent work for me in the kind of
life where I really think I could do most. But I shall speedily turn back to
my books and do my best with them; though I fear that only a very mild &
moderate success awaits me.
Cabot has done 'well in the Senate. Yours
422 • TO CARL SCHURZ Schurz Mss.
Private Washington, August 23, 1893
Dear Mr. Schurz: Many thanks for your kindness. I have a very lively
appreciation of the active work you are doing for the cause of civil service
reform and decent government. I send you this as you request to Pocantico.
Next week I shall myself go away for my September holiday, which I shall
take on my ranch. For some reasons I regret going, as we will have to make
a hard fight for appropriations.
Now, as to the Post Office Department matter. I was rather amused to
find that the reception of my letter enclosed in yours had evidently exas-
perated them a little with me, although why it should I do not know, as I
had already made every statement that I made in that letter to them person-
ally. They felt very sore over your letter, but I think it will do good; and
the only disappointing feature is a certain curious inability to understand
what the facts are. Mr. Bissell, for instance, at once started again to go over
334
with me the Bloomington, Quincy and Galesburg cases, to show that the
Department had been all right about them, and then to argue about the four
years' term, concerning which of course I utterly disagreed with him. They
are too timid! They ought to make an example of some of these scoundrels.
As to the other departments. Here again I want to reiterate that the
Post Office Department is, inside the law, living straight up to the handle.
They try to work in with the Commission in every way and they are hon-
estly endeavoring to help us stop removals for political reasons in the clas-
sified offices; although they must soon make up their minds to punish some
offender. The improvement in the execution of the law in this office is very
marked as compared to the former regime. But there are three departments
which instead of improving have gone back very much in regard to the civil
service law compared to the Harrison administration. These are, first the
Department of State, second the Treasury, and third the Interior. In the
State Department Quincy is the head devil. You doubtless remember how
Gresham1 spoke to us about him that morning we breakfasted together at
the Arlington. Gresham is to blame only in so far as he has abnegated his
right to interfere in reference to these appointments and has delegated them
to a subordinate. Quincy, as regards the consulates, has done precisely what
Clarkson did in the last administration with the fourth class post offices.
Under Clarkson as under his predecessor all of the fourth class postmasters,
practically, were changed, but Clarkson worked with the utmost brutality,
exulting in his efforts to do the thing faster than his predecessor. This is
precisely what Quincy has done. He turned out his first ninety consuls or
thereabouts in the space of time that it took his predecessor to turn out
sixteen of the Democratic consuls; and his removals have been two or three
times as numerous as the removals in the corresponding period under the
Harrison administration. Moreover, no length of service and no efficiency
of administration has helped the consuls, and not a few who weathered the
last Cleveland administration have been summarily turned adrift in this and
replaced by politicians who in certainly many cases were of a very low
stamp. You of course recollect also of my telling you and Gresham of
Quincy's effort to get round the civil service law in the appointment of
people who were in the clerical service of the Department at Washington,
and of Gresham's amusement over it. Moreover he hunts through the de-
partments for patronage places as a pig hunts truffles; he has been to Bissell
for them, and is continually finding excepted places where he can turn out
1 Walker Quintin Gresham, brigadier general in the Union Army; active, influential
Republican opponent of Benjamin Harrison in Indiana politics; Postmaster General,
1883-1884, and Secretary of the Treasury, 1884, under Arthur; candidate for the
Republican presidential nomination in 1888. His marked hostility to the IVIcKinlev
Tariff persuaded the Populists unofficially to offer him their nomination in 1892. Hfe
declined, but went over to the Democrats and was appointed Secretary of State in
1893 by Cleveland. His pronounced opposition to jingoism influenced American
foreign policy until his death in 1895.
the incumbents and reward his followers; and this not only in his own
department.
Now, for the Treasury. In the first place Logan Carlisle has been a curse
there. He is by position and by capacity an unimportant clerk, but owing to
the fact that he is the son of the Secretary, a most unfortunate thing in
itself, he is supposed to speak with authority. He has been openly sneering
at the civil service law and at civil service reformers and announcing his
intentions to get around and break through the law; and people think that
this means that the Secretary intends to do so. This of course greatly en-
courages all his subordinates, chiefs of division and others, to trample on
the law, and makes the applicants as well as the clerks feel that they won't
get justice. He actually was the instigator of a statement that the Secretary
would try to select only Democrats from certifications, to which I at once
answered in the press that the statement was of course a slander on the
Secretary, because such conduct would be strictly illegal and would render
the Secretary himself liable to the penalty of dismissal from office. Under
the Harrison administration there was a -fair system of promotion by exami-
nations in this office. It was not a very good system, but it was fair — it was
better than nothing. It prevented incompetent people from being promoted,
and it quite frequently secured the promotion of people wholly without
regard to politics or influence. Mr. Carlisle completely did away with this
and has put promotion upon the basis of mere favoritism, which means that
it comes in accordance with pressure from outside. As was to be expected
the different auditors and comptrollers at once made sweeping reductions of
the Republican clerks in the office and sweeping promotions of Democrats,
in a great majority of cases the promotions going to Southerners. Further-
more, in not a few cases, the most flagrant of which was one in the office
of the Commission itself, Republicans against whom no charges were pre-
ferred at all were dismissed from office; and while there was no means of
obtaining legal proof that they were dismissed because of their politics, there
was no doubt left in the minds of any disinterested outsiders that such was
the case. The Secretary of the Interior has been doing much the same thing.
In the Pension Office and Land Office there have been sweeping reductions
of Republicans who were in the classified service, and a very considerable
number of dismissals of them and corresponding promotions of Democrats.
In the Patent Office the awarding the patent for publication in the official
gazette has been made with utter disregard of the public interest to a firm
of political printers — a disgraceful piece of spoils politics. The tests for
promotion have been abandoned in the same office, and in dismissing, pro-
moting and degrading men no attention has been paid to their efficiency
records. Every effort has been made to keep these promotions and reduc-
tions secret, and prevent the public knowing about them. Of course it must
not be forgotten that one reason that this can be done comes from the utter
silliness and pig-headedness of President Harrison in refusing to put the
question of promotions under the Civil Service Commission. After intimat-
ing that he was going to do this he actually merely promulgated purely
advisory rules for the different heads of departments, leaving the question of
promotions entirely in their hands. He made a great noise about this at the
time and claimed it as a substantial advance, whereas it was nothing of the
sort, and as was to be expected the whole scheme collapsed instantly when
the present administration came in, the new heads of departments paying no
heed whatever to the rules promulgated by the old ones. Mr. Harrison's silly
perverseness was one of the reasons why these reductions and promotions
can go on. I enclose you a number of newspaper clippings which confirm
some of the facts I have mentioned in connection with the Interior and
Treasury departments. In the last issue of Good Government you will see
Quincy's attempted explanation of his own course in making these sweeping
removals in the consular service. Cordially yours
[Handivritten] P.S. Of course I suppose my name ought not to be men-
tionned in connection with this letter.
423 -TO CHARLES LYMAN RoOSevelt
Washington, August 25, 1893
Dear Mr. Lyman: I shall leave here on the 28th, but the General l will take
charge for the three days intervening before you come home. He has been
in Washington steadily, but has not been at the office except to get his mail
now and then. I have started a number of investigations into alleged cases of
removal for political reasons, at Paducah, Ky., Evansville, Vincennes, and
Marion, Ind., etc. If any questions of this kind come up I wish you would
not decide them until I come back, unless, of course, you wish to decide
them against wrongdoers and think it should be done immediately; in such
case go right ahead. As you know, I am not a bit afraid of the Commission's
failing to be harsh enough.
I trust Mrs. Lyman and yourself have had an enjoyable month on the
coast.
The estimates will speedily go to the Secretary of the Treasury with
request that they be submitted as extra for this year. Very sincerely yours
424 • TO CARL SCHURZ Sc^WTZ
Washington, August 26, 1893
Dear Mr. Schurz: I have just seen First Assistant Postmaster General Jones
in reference to a letter he has been writing to be sent to you. At first, from
the figures he gave me, I thought there must be some discrepancies between
them and mine, but on taking them back and looking over my files I find
that such is not the case, the seeming differences arising from the fact that
1 George Doherty Johnston.
337
my remarks about the sweeping removals apply of course to the Republi-
cans, while in many of these offices it now appears that a number of "hold-
over" Democrats have been retained, while the Republican appointees have
been all turned out by the incoming Democratic postmasters. This of course
merely strengthens the case against them, as it deprives them of just so much
of the excuse that was offered by the previous partisan proscription by their
predecessors. In Athens, Ga., and Bloomington, III, every man was removed.
The only question still at issue in Athens is as to whether the successors of
the carriers must be taken from the eligible register; but the entire old force
has been turned out. At Plattsburg one Republican was left in. At Topeka,
as I have already explained to you, one Republican was left in together with
10 holdover Democrats — a good showing for the old Republican Post-
master, by the way. At Columbus, every Republican was turned out; the
holdover Democrats were left in. The same course was followed substan-
tially at Rome, and so at Augusta. (I think two Republicans, but possibly
only one, were left in at Augusta.) My statements in these cases rest upon
the reports of the postmasters themselves, who notify us that they have no
Republicans left in the office when we request them to make nominations of
both parties for our local boards, which are composed of employes in the
different offices. On the above offices we now have no Republicans on our
local boards, with the exception of a man who may be a Republican in
Augusta; the Postmasters notifying us there «are» no Republicans left to
put on our local boards. At Kansas City there are now four men who served
during the last administration. Of these either one or two are Republicans,
the other holdover Democrats. Little Rock was a peculiarly aggravated
case because there the examination was deferred under circumstances pre-
cisely similar to what occurred at Terre Haute; the postmaster, however,
taking advantage of the delay to turn out only half the force instead of all.
This was done at the time that our whole course of procedure was reversed
by the Attorney General's decision as to the date of classification; and after
much conversation and correspondence with the Post Office Department,
inasmuch as it appeared that the department itself had acted with entire
good faith in the matter, the Commission decided not to insist upon its view
being adopted, but to treat the case as parallel to those at Topeka, Kansas
City, etc., that is as simply one in which the postmaster, coming in before
the law applied, in the language of Senator Martin, "made hay while the
sun shone," and made his partisan removals before we had any control over
them. At Anderson the Republican clerks and carriers were also turned out,
with either one or two exceptions. I found when I came to talk with the
Assistant Postmaster General that one additional reason for the apparent
discrepancy was that he did not include forced resignations among removals.
Thus, recently at Paducah, Ky., an office not included in those which I have
therec"
is of a
338
given you above, the postmaster gathered all his letter carriers together and
told them he wished the resignations of all of them. They at once wrote on
to me asserting that it was done purely for political purposes. I instantly
went over to the Department and told them not to allow any removals until
the matter was investigated and I could see whether there was the least
excuse for such sweeping changes. They acceded to my request as to re-
movals; but afterwards I happened by accident to find out that they were
about to accept the resignations of the various carriers, although in these
resignations themselves it was stated that they were made "upon the demand
of the postmaster." I of course pressed the matter as vigorously as possible,
and stated that I certainly would refuse to acknowledge the least difference
between a removal and a forced resignation. Finally they with much reluc-
tance agreed to adopt my views as regards Paducah, but insisted this should
not be treated as a precedent. This set me to looking through the other
offices given above, and I found at once that the differences between Jones'
figures and mine were in all cases explicable by the fact either that the men
left in were Democrats, or else that though there had been few outright
removals there had been many forced resignations, which, of course,
amounted to the same thing. There is one exception, however, and this
shows one admirable effect of your article. At Quincy the Republican clerks
were turned out, as I wrote you, the carriers being left in, with a large
force of substitutes appointed; but since light has been turned upon the
affair the Post Office Department has assumed the attitude that these substi-
tutes will not be allowed to take the places of the regular men for political
reasons, so that in Quincy at least half of the clean sweep has been stopped.
Mr. Bissell told rne that Mr. Jones had thought that I said that while I did
not endorse the action about the Bloomington post office I still, in the course
of a conversation, said "it was all right," or something to that effect; so I
at once referred him to my published report on the Terre Haute case, in
which I specifically mentioned Bloomington, comparing it with Wana-
maker's action in the railway mail service and quoting Congressman Hart-
er's1 opinion about both; and stated that it was of course quite impossible
that I should verbally qualify what I had written in a formal and published
document. Jones is a first class fellow, however, and of all the assistant sec-
retaries I have yet met he is the one who strives hardest to act in accord
with what he deems to be his duty. I believe this stirring up has had a very
good effect on the Department, though I begged Mr. Bissell to make im-
mediately evident what a good effect it had had by dismissing the Topeka
postmaster. I have some little hope that this may yet be done. Meanwhile I
do know one thing that is enormously to the credit of Mr. Bissell. He is
standing up like a rock against the request of Voorhees and Turpie,2 the
Indiana Senators, to reinstate the old railway mail clerks who were turned
out by Wanamaker. He spoke to me about this some time ago, and I then
told him that of course if that reinstatement were allowed it could only be
1 Michael Daniel Harter, Democratic congressman from Ohio, 1891-1895.
•David Turpie, Democratic senator from Indiana, 1863, 1887-1899.
339
done by a presidential rule, and that I should protest in a formal letter to
the President, in which I should set forth at length my reasons for so pro-
testing, and that I should see that this letter was made public. I also added
that I was afraid it would be impossible for me in that letter not to use such
language as would entail my own immediate dismissal from office if the rule
allowing the reinstatement of these men was adopted, for I should consider
it the worst blow that had ever been given to the merit system. I am happy
to say that Mr. Bissell has completely adopted my view, and he is standing
up with great courage and fidelity against the pressure of the whole gang
of spoilsmen, headed by the Indiana Senators, as I stated above.
Good bye. I am off this afternoon for my 30 days. Hurrah for the cow
country! Sincerely yours
[Handvcritten] P. S. Of course the facts I give above you can quote me
for; but I guess my opinions had better not be quoted.
425 • TO WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE Foulke
Washington, October 19, 1893
My Dear Foulke: (Why do you address me so formally as "my dear sir?")
I can't promise to come out now, for I really haven't an idea of what my
plans will be. If I visit anyone you may be very certain that you will be
the one. I want much to see you and to see Swift too, and I should particu-
larly like to visit you at your home; but it is impossible for me now to make
definite plans. There are many things I should like to talk over with you.
It seems to me that as regards civil service reform we are getting along just
about the same under this administration as we did under the last. The Treas-
ury Department is very much worse managed than it was under Harrison.
Young Carlisle has been a curse, and he has acted with the full approval of
his father. The Interior Department is certainly no better than it was, and
Joe Quincy has out-heroded Herod as a spoilsman among the consuls; but
the Post Office Department is very much better than it was under Wana-
maker, and of course this is the department with which we really have most
to do.
Isn't there a chance of your getting East sometime, when I can see you?
Cordially yours
426 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWEPT SlVtft MSS?
Washington, October 27, 1893
Dear Mr. Swift, I wish I could see you. I have been immensely troubled over
your Indiana postoffices, (among many other things ranging from Carlisle to
Quincey). As you doubtless remember, in our last conversation you sug-
340
gested and I heartily agreed that there would ka-e to be some turning out
of the old employes, appointed as these were for spoils reasons; that what
we had to do was to watch the eligible registers and see that the appoint-
ments were made regularly. I have been acting on this theory; but upon my
word I am getting impatient with some of the offices. The trouble is it is
so very difficult to get proof of a removal for political reasons; I can get
presumption enough to satisfy me, enough to make me willing to act were
I Postmaster General; but nothing to which I can point as conclusive evi-
dence. Then at Fort Wayne, Vincennes & Rock Island I have been obliged
to return "not proven," although I strongly suspect that there is crooked
work in one or two cases. I have to be especially careful because I have to
guard at all points against opposition wthin the Commission. In Evansville
I gave the postmaster the benefit of the doubt, inclining to the belief that he
acted in ignorance but in good faith; but I begin to fear I was wrong. Do
let me know if you hear anything that would help me to act aright; I am
in a very difficult position, and I welcome advice from you. Warm regards
to Mrs Swift. Cordially yours
427 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ
Private Washington, November 21, 1893
Dear Mr. Schurz, To my real relief the fight in the Commission has come to
a head. Today we sent in our report, and General Johnston sent in a dis-
senting report. It is, save for a few cheap phrases, simply a spoils document.
The main feature of it is an attack upon the extension of the classified serv-
ice to the free delivery offices! (He never dared oppose this when Harrison
ordered it; he is now of course very flattering to Cleavland). He also points
out that there are a great many more republicans than democrats in the
classified service! of course he exagerates the ratio. He pleads for a "con-
servative" administration of the law. He refuses to join in our recommenda-
tion to reduce the number of excepted places. He argues against our propo-
sition that in removals the cause of removal should be stated in writing and
the accused be given a chance to be heard in his own defence.
Altogether is a rather odd document, coming from a Civil Service Com-
missionner. The C. S. Legue resolution about the Van Alen matter has cut
the Administration to the quick.1
All this is of course private.
In haste, Sincerely yours
1 Cleveland had appointed James J. Van Alen, a wealthy Rhode Islander, Minister to
Italy as a reward for his large contribution to the Democratic campaign fund. Al-
though Van Alen was qualified for the position, civil service reformers protested
against what they considered an almost open purchase of office. After the Senate
confirmed the selection, Van Alen resigned, although Cleveland urged him to take
office. See Nevins, Cleveland, p. 518.
341
428 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ MSS.°
Washington, November 27, 1893
Dear Mr. Schurz, Mr. Bissell was much pleased with the part of your note
I read him. He then told me — as a kind of reward of merit in bringing the
note to him perhaps! — that Gen'l Johnston's resignation had been requested
by the President; that Johnston had at first refused to give it, and that he
had been notified that unless he resigned he would be removed. If this is
true, as I suppose of course it is, the President deserves much credit for his
prompt action, on the two reports being sent in.
The being "cut to the quick" in the Van Alen matter manifested itself
by the Administration, in all it's parts, expressing to me much indignation at
the action of the League. This is of course in strict confidence. Cordially
yours
429 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cobles MSS.°
New York, December 10, 1893
Darling Bye, I felt decidedly sad when I left you on the boat; but I am sure
you are doing the wisest thing and that you are performing a real service —
and that it will be good for you, and that in the end you will enjoy it.
Yesterday, Saturday, I was very busy; but I called on the Whites, who
were out, and bought Keats for Bob.
Your dinner in the evening was one of the greatest successes I have seen.
The guests came at 7.30 and went at one. It was very useful, too, and the
reform will benefit by it. Bissell was delighted with it; he and Carl Schurz
and Dana made speech after speech, and became tolerably angry with one
another — for their words were of the frankest — and then Seth Low, look-
ing very good, and smug and sleek and able, got up and poured oil on the
troubled waters. They all said they had never enjoyed a dinner more.
I was resplendent in a cast off vest and cut down trousers of Bob's, and
looked so burstingly-slim that I was much like these German officiers in very
tight coatees. Chamberlain handled the dinner to perfection
I go back to Washington and Edie and the Bunnies this afternoon. Doug-
las received a telegram yesterday saying the authorities would not allow the
body to land, and it will be sent back here on the next steamer.
Give my love to Rosy; and tell him always to be straight United States!
Your loving brother
430 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS
Washington, December 17, 1893
Darling Bye, Edith cut out the enclosed for Rosy; I was pleased with it; it
does pay, after all, to be a courteous gentleman and to appreciate that a
34*
representative of our Government has a duty to all travellers of his own
nationality, \vhether they are of importance or not.
Even my Micawber-like temperament has been unable to withstand a
shock it received this week. Douglas blandly wrote me that there had been
a mistake as to my income & expenditure, and that I was $2fOo behind! We
are going to do everything possible to cut down expenses this year; if we
again run behind I see nothing to do save to leave Sagamore; and I think
we will have to do this anyhow in a few years when we begin to educate
the children. The trouble is that my career has been a very pleasant, honor-
able and useful career for a man of means; but not the right career for a man
without the means. If I can I shall hold this position another winter; about
that time I shall publish my next two volumes of the Winning of the West;
I am all at sea as to what I shall do afterwards.
We had the Hagues to dinner;1 she is so much pleasanter than she was.
We also had the Thorons. One evening this week we went to the Pellews,
which was rather pleasant as they had my friend Rockhill the Thibetan
explorer.2 Another evening we dined with the Storers,3 to meet divers Mick
ecclesiastics; among others Bishop Keane4 whom I like, and with whom I
had a long and very plainspoken argument over the public schools. The
Catholics show a little restiveness over these, and are helped by the bigots on
our own side; but the public school system can not be overthrown here.
This evening we dine with Henry Adams. I took a walk with Cabot this
morning; and am now about starting for a scramble up Rock Creek with
the three elder children. Ted sends you many kisses and also several "bear
waves". Your aff brother
431 -TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MattheWS Ate.0
Washington, December 21, 1893
Dear Brander, Funnily enough Lodge & I did drink your health at dinner
last evening; and, by a more odd coincidence our host, one Captain Davis
1 Arnold Hague was the geologist in. charge of the Yellowstone National Park, 1883-
1917.
'William Woodville Rockhill, diplomat, explorer, authority on Orientalia; later
First Assistant Secretary of State, 1896-1897; Commissioner to China, 1000, and
United States plenipotentiary to the Congress of Peking for the settlement of the
Boxer troubles, 1901; Director, International Bureau of American Republics, 1899-
1905; minister to China, 1905-1909; ambassador to Russia, 1909-1911; ambassador to
Turkey, 1911-1913.
'Bellamy and Maria Storer were close friends of the Roosevelts from the time of
their first meeting until the time of their differences while Roosevelt was President.
Storer was a Republican congressman from Ohio, 1891-1895; later minister to various
European capitals. Mrs. Storer was the aunt of Nicholas Longworth, who became
the husband of Alice Lee Roosevelt. A dominant personality, a Catholic, she played
a prominent part in the development of her husband's career. In 1896 he followed his
wife into the Church.
* Bishop John Joseph Keane, Rector of Catholic University, Washington, D.C.
343
U.S.X. (it was a nonpartisan dinner to Secretary Herbert) in speaking of
my article took precisely your ground about French literature — Lodge &
I holding the contrary, and incidentally quoting Lowell's article in support.
I'll discuss the matter with you when next we meet. Also intercollegiate
games; the trouble here is that we wish enough competition to arouse
healthy rivalry, without which the games are pretty sure to languish, but
not so much as to excite rahealthy rivalry; I sometime think that inter-
collegiate contests arouse too much enthusiasm, but I am afraid that inclass
contests merely would arouse too little.
At present I feel rather dismally about my chances of seeing you soon.
I have to go on to New York about Jan loth, to present my accounts for
audit to the Boone and Crockett; & also to go out to my Long Island place
and prepare for the stringent measures of reform within the party which
the Hard Times Call For! But that is in the middle of the week, so there is
no chance for a lunch. Could'n't you dine with me at the Union League
club on the evening of the pth? I'll ask Bunner; and try to get Lodge, too,
as he will then be returning from Boston. Yours
432 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS
Washington, December 31, 1893
Darling Bye, The enclosed note from Alice seems good to the eye of an
indulgent parent; the name "Mr. Laggle" represents a shot at Professor
Langley;1 the other words I think you can puzzle out.
To my horror Elliott sent me a Xmas present, selecting as appropriate a
coachman's fur collar.
Constance and Gussie'are at the Lodges; Constance is so pretty, and with
Gussie I have long and scientific talks over football. The Lodges are just
dear, of course.
My new colleague, Proctor, is a first rate man; he is congenial in work
and play; and I feel we are accomplishing something on the Commission. I
wish I could say as much for the third volume of my "Winning of the
West" which hangs fire badly.
Among our dinners this week was a very pleasant one at the Paunce-
f ortes, to whom I am quite devoted. I took in Rigy Howland, by the way.
A very pretty Miss Wilson, a sister in law of Mungo Herbert, was there.
For exercise I occasionally put on my knickerbockers and take a scram-
ble up Rock Creek; or else go for a more solemn walks with Cabot; and I
am just about taking the three elder children out for their Sunday morning
climb. I wish you could see Ethel; she is a real little Auntie Bye! Yowr off.
brother
1 Samuel Pierpont Langley, a pioneer in research on solar radiation and heavier-than-
air machines; author; secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
344
433 ' T0 JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Mattke^S MSS.°
Washington, December 31, 1893
Dear Grander , Your article on Lang1 is simply delightful; but I am not at all
sure he will altogether relish it. And the best of it is that you have been so
complimentary — justly complimentary — that he can't very well object.
I hardly know which he will find most offensive; to be defended and excused
for being sensitive to American criticism, or praised upon the absence of
Briticisms in his style. By the way, I had forgotten his deliciously inept
remark about Poe's being a gentleman among canaille. Altogether I think
that your article is admirable, in tone, in temper, in everything.
Regards to Madame. Yours
434 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cobles MSS.°
Washington, January 7, 1894
Darling Bye, We have a rainy Sunday, so instead of taking the children for
a scramble I played bear with them indoors and then told them Indian
stories. If I can get a companion I shall take a long trot this afternoon, for
I have been kept at the office until after five even- day this week, and am
feeling very plethoric and lazy in consequence of lack of exercise.
I continue to get on beautifully with the President who is really very
cordial with me; but I think he has made a fearful mess of the Hawaian
affair;1 and his party bids fair to have open internecine war over the tariff
and the income tax combined. Aly new colleague Procter is a trump. In the
evenings I work hard, to little purpose, over my 3d vol of the "Winning of
the West."
On Monday I rather enjoyed rny White House and cabinet calls, meet-
ing all my dearest foes from Carlisle, who is smooth, rather cowardly, able
and vindictive, to Hoke Smith, who is big, bluff, and coarse, and with whom
I as usual indulged in a rough and tumble argument, to the astonishment of
the broad hatted Texan delegation, who were calling at the same time. In
the evening I went to my annual dance at the Pauncefotes; the only place
in Washington where I can dance, or enjoy a party, as the rooms are so
large, and the floor good. Tuesday we had a very pleasant dinner at Henry
Adams, to bid him goodbye, and on Thursday the Reeds and Storers dined
with us to meet Judge Taft, of whom we are really fond.
Love to Rosy, Your aff brother
1 "Andrew Lang/' Century Magazine, 47 1375-381 (January 1894).
1 The revolt of Americans in Hawaii, with the avowed purpose of annexation to the
United States, had taken place in January 1893. Cleveland withdrew from the Senate
the annexation treaty introduced as a result of this revolt. He attempted to restore
Queen Liliuokalani to her throne, but was finally forced to recognize the new repub-
lican government of Hawaii, which settled down to wait for annexation, finally
accomplished in 1898.
345
435 " TO ALEXANDER MONROE DOCKERY RoOSCVelt
Washington, January 8, 1894
Sir: 1 On behalf of the Commission I beg to acknowledge the receipt of the
copies of the various bills introduced into the House of Representatives in
relation to the civil service law, so far as referred to your committee, and I
beg leave to furnish, as coming from the Commission, the following com-
ments on these bills:
H. R. 2683, Mr. Fithian's bill to require certain employes of the Govern-
ment to pass civil service examination. As a matter of fact, all those in the
War Department have already been required to do this, but it is not really
necessary to have these examinations, as for mere continuance in the service
it is only needful to pay heed to the man's actual work. The proposed end
could be better reached by departmental regulation than by legislative enact-
ment; the proper course to follow is to provide for competitive examinations
for promotion, under the direction of the Commission. A gratifying feature
of this bill is that in it Mr. Fithian recognizes that competence can be tested
by our civil service examinations; and of course if a civil service examination
is competent to test the worth of a man already in the service, it is far more
competent to test his qualifications for admission to it.
H. R. 3682, Mr. Fithian's bill to repeal the civil service law. Concerning
this bill there does not seem to be much necessity for speaking. To repeal
the civil service law means of course to re-establish the spoils system in all the
departments of government from which we have now succeeded in expelling
it. In other words, this bill is one to arrest the efforts being made to establish
our civil service upon the plane upon which it must exist in all civilized
nations and to reduce it to the level of the system existing in Morocco,
Turkey, and barbarous countries generally. The civil service law is not one
merely for the betterment of the public service, although it accomplishes
this end too. It also has the effect, just so far as it extends, greatly to raise
the tone of public life. There is of course a certain difference between pay-
ing for votes with money and paying for them with offices, exactly as there
is some difference between the barbarism of a Moor and the barbarism of a
Tartar; but the difference is not material. An act to repeal the civil service
law comes within a category that would embrace acts to repeal laws against
bribery for political purposes, and the like.
H. R. 2660, Mr. Henderson's bill to provide for the apportionment of
appointments to Congressional districts. One objection to this bill is that it
would enormously increase the expense of the Commission. A large item in
the expense of the Commission is due to its efforts to keep up the quotas of
the different States; and excepting under the Commission this effort has
never been seriously made in Washington. It is only in the classified depart-
1 Alexander Monroe Dockery, chairman of the Committee on Reform in the Civil
Service.
346
mental service that the outlying States, of the Gulf, the Pacific Coast and
the Rocky Mountains, have ever received their proper quotas of appoint-
ments. Under the Commission each State has received justice. Under the
spoils system the States that are far away from Washington do not get half
the appointments to which they are entitled. Owing, however, to the very
limited area of each Congressional district and to the impossibility of telling
in what line a vacancy may occur when a particular State is in order, great
delay and confusion would result in the effort to apportion the appointments
as suggested in Mr. Henderson's bill, and it would be entirely impossible to
do it at all without great extra expense. Moreover, even if this expense were
incurred, the taking for a unit of division a Congressional district should not
be allowed for a moment. In the first place, Congressional districts shift, and
after every change, and especially after every gerrymander, it would be
necessary to reorganize the apportionment. If the changes were sufficiently
numerous the apportionment could not possibly be made with any approach
to equity; while, finally, even if the districts were stable, they should not be
taken as units, because every effort should be made to prevent people get-
ting the idea that the Congressmen are the natural dispensers of patronage.
All people should be made to understand that appointments are made wholly
without regard to political considerations.
H. R. 3249, Mr. Bynum's bill to allow the reinstatement of railway mail
clerks dismissed between the i5th day of March and the first day of May,
1889. This bill proposes to remedy a wrong committed four years ago by
permitting another wrong now, and thereby affording a precedent for the
possibility of committing another wrong four years hence, and so on. It is
true that this bill says that these clerks shall only be reinstated whenever a
vacancy may occur, but immediately upon its enactment the greatest pres-
sure would be brought to bear to make vacancies occur. Some twenty-three
hundred clerks were turned out in the time spoken of in the bill by the
Republican administration, these twenty-three hundred clerks being Demo-
cratic clerks who had been put into office under the spoils system by the
preceding Democratic administration, the then Republican clerks having
been turned out for their benefit. Of the twenty-three hundred Republicans
who took their places but nine hundred are left in the service, the others
having been separated from the service and their places filled under the civil
service examinations. Most of the beneficiaries of the wrong committed have
thus left the service. Moreover, of the dismissed clerks the best are undoubt-
edly now at work, and it is precisely the worst and those who, instead of
going to work, band themselves into political bodies, who would be the
beneficiaries of the proposed bill. It is a thoroughly bad policy to enact into
law any proposition looking to the reinstatement of men turned out of an
office before the office was classified. Undoubtedly in 1889 advantage was
taken of the necessary delay in classifying the railway mail service to turn
out men for the purpose of making these twenty-three hundred spoils ap-
347
pointments. This was wrong, and highly discreditable. It is, however, pre-
cisely what was done under the present administration by the postmasters at
Topeka, Kansas City (Kan.), Burlington, Quincy, Galesburg, Plattsburg,
Athens, and various other places, where advantage was taken of the neces-
sary delay in the classification of the offices to turn out the Republicans and
put in Democrats under the old spoils principles. In point of numbers the
wrong was not nearly so great in 1893 as in 1889, but in principle the cases
are precisely alike, and it would be rank injustice to pass a law which would
apply to one set of people and not to the other. In short, the bill is thor-
oughly mischievous.
H. R. 324, Mr. Pickler's bill to amend the clause of the Revised Statutes
giving preference to soldiers for offices. The Commission is bound to say
that most of the testimony presented to it is to the effect that the veterans
who get into office under this clause are rarely the equal of the civilians who
stand on the same lists. As is but natural, an old soldier who at fifty years of
age has to seek employment under the Government is not apt to be able to
render as good service as a young man in the prime of his health and
strength. The old soldiers now in office, who have been in for a long time,
are often among the very most competent of all the men in office; but those
who are now seeking to enter office for the first time, under conditions
which give them a great advantage over their competitors, do not as a rule
make as good public servants as are furnished from the registers among the
civilians. It is eminently proper to give to the veteran who needs it and who
deserves it a pension, .but it is not proper to have him draw money from the
Government for doing work which could be performed better by somebody
else.
H. R. 197, Mr. Wheeler's bill to amend the civil service act. The first
section of this bill does not call for any comment by the Commission. In
section 2, division second, subdivision third, the proposed requirement as to
residence is weaker than that the Commission now enforces. It not only
requires this statement under oath from the applicant as to his or her bona
•fide residence and as to how long he or she has been a resident of the place
given, but also requires two such statements from citizens of the county
from which the applicant claims to come and a certificate to the same
effect from a county officer, under his official seal. Subdivision four simply
enacts into law what is now the practice of the Commission. The Commis-
sion has followed and is now following precisely the plan here outlined. In
consequence the apportionment of the appointments from the different
States in the classified service is now, and has for some time been, as nearly
accurate as such apportionment ever can be, taking into account the needs
of the service. The only difference is that Mr. Wheeler's bill proposes to
pay heed to the people akeady employed in the Government service at
Washington. It would be quite impracticable to put this into effect, because
many of those who have been in the service for a long time, although bona
348
•fide residents of the various States from \vhich they came at the time that
they were appointed, would now be unable to prove such residence, and
indeed in many cases have lost the right to claim such residence. Unless Mr.
Wheeler's bill contained definitely the proposition to turn out every man
who had not kept up his residence it would be unfair in the extreme to some
of the States and to the District of Columbia to allow them to be burdened
with people originally appointed from other States who for greater ease
choose to consider themselves as having severed their residences with these
States. The only proper course to follow is that followed by the Commis-
sion, which, as required by law, apportions the appointments merely. If this
is done it will be but a short while before the quotas are practically even as
far as the classified service extends. In all branches of the service where the
old spoils methods of making appointments prevail comparatively little
attention ever has been paid, or ever will be paid, to the apportionment of
the different applicants among the States. People who wish to repeal the
civil service law are acting in a manner most hostile to the interests of the
States which are farthest from Washington.
Subdivisions 8th, 9th, loth, nth, and i2th, provide practically for the
annulment of all the previous sections of the bill and of the whole civil serv-
ice law as well. This bill might therefore be divided into two parts; one pro-
viding that certain things be done, and the other providing that those things
need not be done. There is no use whatever in having competitive exam-
inations if the entire eligible lists are certified. This is simply a cumbrous
method of allowing pass examinations. Under such a system any man who
can just squeeze through the examination, at no matter how low an average,
can, if he has the proper political pull, get the appointment over his better
competitors. To certify the entire list for appointment is merely to reintro-
duce the spoils system plus various cumbersome additions, while subdivision
i ith, which allows an officer to appoint people not of the State or Territory
entitled to the appointment, if he so wishes, provides an excellent method of
breaking down everything designed to protect the equal rights of the States
to receive their proper quotas of appointments. The i4th subdivision ex-
plains the meaning and intent of the amendment to be to give to the heads
of departments and other officers more unrestricted opportunities to secure
to the Government the services of those best qualified for the public service
and best adapted to special characters of employment. The bill would abso-
lutely fail of this purpose, however, for as a matter of fact the present civil
service law as now administered amply provides for the very objects enu-
merated, while the proposed bill simply provides that politicians shall be en-
abled to force upon the departments their own henchmen to fill places which
could be far better filled by other men. Under the present law it is these
other men, the men best fitted to fill them, who actually do fill them.
H. R. 8 1, Mr. Raines' bill to authorize the employment of additional
clerks for the Civil Service Commission. This matter has already been dis-
349
cussed by the Commission in its communication to the appropriations com-
mittee.
H. R. 30, Mr. Cummings' bill to insure preference in appointment, em-
ployment, and retention in the public service of veterans of the late war.
The chief point to be noticed about this bill is that in section second it
demands that the law be enforced "in letter and spirit," and provides that it
shall be deemed a misdemeanor to fail to observe the law both "in letter and
spirit." It also provides that no veteran shall be dismissed from his position
except upon charges and after a hearing. This is a most admirable provision.
It should, however, refer not only to veterans, but to all civil servants; and
the Civil Service Commission should be given power to investigate and
report on all cases of dismissal.
H. R. 232, Mr. Martin's bill to limit the terms of office of employes gov-
erned by the civil service rules. This is to establish a four years' term of
service in the departments at Washington. Practically, this of course means
to make the spoils system in its worst form obligatory instead of merely
permissive. It would probably be impossible to overestimate the amount of
mischief this bill would cause if enacted into law. The best employes in the
Government, those who do the best service, are those who have been in
office over eight years; and to turn out all of these men would bring the
wheels of government to a standstill. It would be absolutely impossible for
the Government to keep in operation if all of its employes were turned out
every four years. The bill might properly be entitled "A bill to secure hope-
less inefficiency in the governmental departments."
H. R. 396, Mr. Alderson's bill to repeal the civil service act. This is of
course merely another bill to reintroduce the spoils system, with a provision
for departmental examinations by the heads of the departments in their dis-
cretion; examinations which are always futile, and often worse than futile.
H. R. 1974, Mr. Erdman's bill to amend the civil service law. The chief
feature about this bill is that it proposes to divide all the people in office and
all appointments to office between the two parties which poll the most votes.
Some of its provisions are a little obscure; for example, it says that after
examinations the Commission shall arrange in two classes all the male appli-
cants for appointment, in the respective departments. Inasmuch as the appli-
cants are not in the respective departments, but are hoping to be appointed
in some one of the departments, it is not dear what is meant by this section.
In any event the plan would be quite hopeless to carry out, aside from the
minor detail that under it all Populists, Greenbackers, Labor men, Socialists,
Mugwumps and Independents of every grade would be forever debarred by
law from taking part in the service of the Government. A more odious dis-
crimination could hardly be imagined. Moreover, the temptation to fraud
and corruption under such a system would be great. In short, the enactment
into law of this bill would speedily reduce the public service to a condition
of utter inefficiency.
350
H. R. 4219, Mr. Stockdale's bill to apportion the appointments among
Congressional districts. This principle has already been discussed*
H. R. 4246, Mr. De Armond's bill to allow each State and Territory to
select its own quota of employes required in the departmental service. This
is another bill which it is a little difficult to discuss seriously. In the first
place, the employes of the departmental service are employes'of the United
States, and not of the different States, and they have all to be appointed by
the officers of the United States having authority to make appointments, and
not by the different States and their agents. The proposition to have the
different States elect droves of people at irregular intervals to come on and
take positions in Washington for which they would in all probability be
utterly unfitted, is really not one about which it is worth while to argue. It
would be quite as wise to advocate having the States elect at irregular and
uncertain intervals little hordes of persons to take positions as officers in the
United States Army.
H. R. 4281, Mr. Hunter's bill to amend the civil service law. This is to
provide for the certification of the entire eligible list. It is therefore merely
to introduce the spoils system, but to provide that in addition thereto there
shall be some extra expense and trouble incurred. To certify the whole list
is equivalent to introducing the system of pass examinations. Pass examina-
tions, if sufficiently rigid, will keep out utterly inefficient persons, but do
not for a moment interfere with making appointments for political reasons,
on the contrary they are calculated and probably intended to facilitate them.
H. Res. 87, Air. Stockdale's joint resolution to require the name and
residence of each employe of the Government in the District of Columbia.
This information might have some value. For the reasons already given,
however, the question of residence could not possibly be determined with
accuracy in the cases of many old employes.
H. R. 1972, Mr. Everett's bill to regulate the appointment of fourth class
postmasters. This bill is excellent in principle; it does not call for extended
discussion here.
I have the honor to be, with great respect, Yours truly
436 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS AlattheWS MSS.°
Washington, January 15, 1894
Dear Brander, Herewith I send you back the Sexual Morality, Prince Prigio,
and Snob Circular; each is delightful in it's own way, and all have been much
admired by Lodge, who sends you his regards.
I can not get over the silliness of the Evening Post in publishing that
female idiot's answer to your article. The sporadic she-fool who writes I
can comprehend; but not the attitude of the colonnial editor.
I enjoyed greatly my dinner with you. Next time I come on I wish you
351
to dine with me to meet Winty Chanler;1 then I'll try to get Dan Wister,2
and I'll ask Bunner too. Is there any chance at all of your getting on here
this winter?
Alice and Ted love Prince Prigio.
Warm regards to Mrs. B. Yours ever
437 • TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Qu*gg
Washington, January 15, 1894
Dear Air. Quigg: l I must send you a line to congratulate you most heartily
upon your nomination, and to express my earnest hope that you will pull
through successfully. It has been some time since I have seen you. Indeed I
think when I last met you it was out in Montana, and I have never even had
a chance to tell you how much I hope that you will not only succeed in
politics but will go on in literature, and will produce other volumes about
our New York life on the style of the work you have already done.2
With best wishes, Cordially yours
438 • TO THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION RoOS6Velt
Washington, January 24, 1894
Sirs: In accordance with your instructions I have carefully gone over the
final letter of the Secretary of the Treasury and all the documents in the
Gaddis1 case.
1Winthrop Chanler, restless, attractive member of the group that rode with the
Austin Wadsworths at Geneseo. Drawn always toward danger and excitement, he
joined the expedition taking arms to Gomez in Cuba, was at one time a colonel in
the Mexican Army, and served as chief interpreter on the staff of General Pershing
in World War I. Between engagements he lived, with his charming, high-spirited
wife, much of the time abroad.
•Owen Wister, lawyer, author, friend from college years of Theodore Roosevelt.
1 Lemuel Ely Quigg, New York Qty journalist and Republican politician. As a
reporter for the New York Tribune, Quigg first met Roosevelt while the latter was
in the Assembly. In Montana, Washington, and Albany their friendship continued.
Quigg, in January 1 894, after serving as press agent for the Republican National Com-
mittee during Harrison's campaign, was nominated and elected to fill a congressional
vacancy in a New York City district that was normally Democratic. While in Con-
gress he was editor (1895-1896) of the New York Press. Later (1896-1900) he was
chairman of the Republican County Committee of New York. In this position he
played an important part in Republican state politics. In 1895 Quigg arranged Roose-
velt's appointment as police commissioner. Three years later he was the leading mem-
ber of the group that persuaded the reluctant Platt to accept Roosevelt as the Repub-
lican candidate for governor. An attractive personality and subtle intelligence, Quigg
preferred to exert his influence from a subordinate position. After 1895, Platt in-
creasingly relied upon his acute judgment of men and political situations. In return
Quigg served the Senator with loyalty and understanding.
a Tin-types Taken m the Streets of New York (New York, 1890).
1 Eugene E. Gaddis, a Treasury clerk, was removed in July 1893 by William Edmond
Curtis, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, 1893-1897. The circumstances of the case
352
has not been reported. I appeared before the Civil Service Committee in
This final letter was received by the Commission on January 22nd. It was
on July 28th last that the Acting Secretary of the Treasury, .Mr. Curtis,
wrote the Commission requesting the return of Mr. Gaddis to the Treasury.
Nearly six months have thus been occupied in getting at the facts — a period
during which a score of cases of more difficult)" and intricacy have been
raised, investigated and decided between the Commission and the Post
Office Department. One of the Commissioners first went personally to the
Department about August 2nd. On August 7th the Commission wrote to
make inquiries concerning the dismissal of Mr. Gaddis. On August 9th an
answer was received. On August zoth the Commission wrote again. No
answer was received to this letter. On August i6th the Commission wrote
again. Again no answer was received. Additional evidence was then fur-
nished the Commission by Gaddis, and on October loth the Register of the
Treasury wrote the Commission assuming responsibility for the whole mat-
ter. On October i4th the Commission wrote the Secretary asking for any
statement the Register might make. On November 8th the Register wrote
to the Commission stating that he had filed his answer with the Secretary of
the Treasury and that the Secretary, and not himself, was responsible for the
removal. On November nth the Secretary of the Treasury wrote to the
Commission stating that even if the allegation made as to the removal of
Gaddis was proved or admitted he did not see that the law had been violated
by the discharge. Inasmuch as the Commission's letter of October loth
alleged that the removal had been made for political reasons this amounted
to a denial of the proposition that to remove a man for political reasons was
a violation of the Civil Service law. There was also an implied denial of the
right of the Commission to investigate removals even where it was alleged
that they were made for political reasons. On November 23rd the Commis-
sion wrote the Secretary, pointing out why in his opinion the position he
had taken was untenable. No answer to this letter was received. On Decem-
ber i pth the Commission again wrote asking for an answer. Again no answer
was received and on January 6th the Commission wrote once more. Then
the answer came on January zzd though it was dated January ijth.
In view of the position taken by the Secretary in his last two letters, it
seems useless further to discuss the matter with him and I recommend that
the case be brought to the attention of the President. On November nth
the Secretary in effect takes the position that it is not a violation of the Civil
Service law to remove a man for political reasons. In his letter of January
1 7th he does not express himself so definitely, stating that he wTould prefer
to leave it for the decision of the courts. In his letter of October nth he
are fully set forth in this letter save for the fact that Gaddis took the matter into
court, where it was ruled that no writ of mandcmms could be issued to assist him in
obtaining his former position. The case attracted attention, revealing as it did the
inability of both the court and the commission to take necessary action against arbi-
trary decisions of the executive.
353
states that even had Gaddis been discharged for refusing to contribute a
political assessment the only remedy would have been to prosecute the case
in the courts. This is practically the position taken by Postmaster General
Wanamaker in reference to the persons in the Baltimore post office who were
accused of violating the civil service law. Secretary Carlisle, moreover, is, as
far as the Commission now remembers, the first public officer who has ever
taken the position that it is no violation of the civil service law to discharge
a man for political reasons. Under President Cleveland's first administration
the Commission, through its acting President, Mr. Oberly, took the ground
that it was a violation of the law to remove a man for his political opinions
or affiliations. The Commission has added upon this view ever since, both in
making investigations and in preparing rules. In General Rule III, Section 7,
it is provided that any nominating or appointing officer who shall discrimi-
nate in favor of or against any eligible because of his political opinions or
affiliations shall be dismissed from office. If the position taken by the Secre-
tary of the Treasury is correct the law and rules prohibit an appointing
officer from discriminating for political reasons against any man until he is
appointed, but allow discrimination against the same man for the same rea-
sons the instant he is appointed. There is small need of comment upon such
a construction of the law. Moreover, the Commission emphatically dissents
from the view now advanced by Secretary Carlisle, as formerly by Post-
master General Wanamaker, that the remedy for violations of the law lies
only in a court of law, and not in the action of the head of a department.
One of the conditions of good administration in every office is that the head
of the office shall see that the law is observed, and not wait to have the court
force him into its observance. The decision of the Supreme Court of the
District of Columbia in 17. S. ex. rel. George T. Pulaski is explicit: it declares
that it is the duty of all officers of the United States in the departments and
offices to which the rules relate to aid in carrying them into effect. It ought
not to be necessary to point out that cases may continually arise under the
civil service law, as under all other laws, where a zealous and faithful officer
must proceed against his own subordinates on evidence which may not be
sufficient to justify a prosecution in a court of law. The head of a depart-
ment who has every reason to believe that one of his subordinates has been
evading or violating the civil service law, even though there is no case
against him on which the Commission could go into court, must be held
responsible for the wrongdoing. The Commission cannot acquiesce in a
view which if accepted would permit a head of a department to lie supine
and allow his subordinates to violate the law at pleasure provided only they
exercised enough caution to keep clear of the courts. If the views advanced
by the Secretary in his letter of November i ith are ever acknowledged to
be correct, an immense stride will have been taken towards reducing the law
to a mere nullity. The result of the adoption of this position by the Secretary
will naturally be its adoption by his subordinates, and by other public offi-
354
cials. Had this view been taken by Postmaster General Bissell it would be
difficult to overestimate the extent to which it would have hampered the
work of the Commission during the last ten months in dealing with the clas-
sified post offices generally, and with the newly classified offices in particu-
lar; while it would of course have put a premium upon making sweeping
removals for partisan reasons in these offices.
In regard to the removal of Mr. Gaddis the Secretary forwards from
Mr. Tillman and from various clerks in the office statements reflecting upon
Mr. Gaddis, and gives it as his opinion that Gaddis was not removed for
political reasons.
The Secretary states that when the original letters of the Commission
were written no complaint had been made that the removal was for political
reasons. If he had turned to my letter of August loth he would have seen
that Mr. Gaddis had already stated that there were no reasons for his re-
moval unless they were political. At the time it seemed evident to me that
the responsible authorities of the Treasury Department must be ignorant of
what had been done in removing Gaddis, and that on their attention being
called to the matter they would be only too glad to rectify their action. The
letters I wrote were precisely such as I would have written any department,
proceeding upon the assumption that the head of the department would
wish to know when an evident and flagrant injustice was being committed.
I was careful in these letters to state that the Commission had no power to
demand information from the department as to the treatment of Mr. Gaddis,
but that it was impossible that there could be any good or sufficient reasons
for refusing to state to the Commission the cause of dismissal. The easiest
way of showing that a dismissal was not made for political reasons is to show
what the reasons actually were, and often if no such reasons are forthcoming
the Commission will be obliged to assume that the reasons were political. It
has been my experience that in the great majority of instances where the
reasons were genuine and adequate there was no hesitation whatsoever in
giving them, but that where the hesitation existed it was generally because
they felt it to be insufficient or were used merely as pretexts, the real reason
being one which the person implicated did not dare to avow. In this par-
ticular instance it is difficult to believe that the reasons now alleged as causes
for the removal of Mr. Gaddis were thought of at the time the removal was
made. The letter recalling Mr. Gaddis came on July 28. The various docu-
ments containing charges against him are dated from August 29 to December
13. Moreover, the reasons alleged for his removal have shifted from time to
time. On July 28 his return was asked for because his services were needed
at the Department. Soon after it was alleged to the Commission that he was
removed for insubordination. This ground seems to have been abandoned,
and the papers now submitted charge various offenses against office dis-
cipline and morals. In view of the position the case has now taken it is need-
less to discuss the truth or falsity of these charges. But one of them deserves
355
notice for other reasons. This is the charge that Gaddis was promoted for
political or personal reasons under the last administration. There is a certain
unconscious humor in advancing this as a reason for dismissing him, in view
of the constant complaints that are now being brought to the Commission
about the promotion and reduction of men in the Treasury Department, and
particularly in the offices of the Sixth and Second Auditor, for, as is alleged,
political and personal considerations. The very day upon which Assistant
Secretary Hamlin3 wrote to the Commission stating that Gaddis had been
removed for satisfactory reasons, the same gentleman also furnished to the
Commission a list of promotions and reductions, notably in the Sixth and
Second Auditors' Offices, concerning which it was charged to the Commis-
sion, with offer of proof, that the great majority, if not all, were promoted
or reduced for political or sectional reasons. Complaints have constantly been
made to the Commission concerning promotions and reductions for political
reasons in the different Departments. In particular, such complaints were
made very frequently concerning the actions of Commissioner Tanner and
Raum in the Pension Bureau; but never as frequently as they have been made
concerning what is alleged to have gone on in the Treasury Department
during the last ten months. The fact that these charges were never com-
municated to Mr. Gaddis at all, and were only produced weeks or months
after the removal had taken place, and that Mr. Gaddis had no opportunity
of answering them, although anxious to produce counter testimony, is suffi-
cient to show the harm resulting from removals made in this way. It is very
unfortunate that the Commission is not given full authority to investigate
such removals. The testimony of Assistant Register Smith in his letter of
January 12 is very damaging to Register Tillman, tending to show that
he recommended the removal of Gaddis merely for personal and political
reasons,
To sum up, then, so far as this particular case is concerned it appears
that, i, The Secretary of the Treasury takes the position of declining to hold
that it is a violation of civil service law to remove a man for political rea-
sons; 2, The Secretary further takes the position that if there is such a viola-
tion of the law the head of the department will not provide any remedy but
will leave the matter to the courts; and 3, The charges upon which it is now
alleged that Gaddis was removed, whether true or false, were advanced some
weeks or months after the removal in order to justify it.
In view of the attitude of the Secretary of the Treasury I recommend
that the Commission earnestly request the President to amend General Rule
I to bring it into accord with General Rule III, Section 7, making it provide
for the dismissal from office of any appointing or nominating officer who
discriminates in favor of or against any subordinate because of his political
or religious opinions or affiliations. In connection with what has been shown
in this case as to the numerous promotions and reductions in the Treasury
"Charles Summer Hamlin, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, 1893-1897.
Department, alleged with offer of proof to be for political reasons, I further
recommend that the President be asked to adopt a rale authorizing the Com-
mission to exercise supervision over promotions and reductions, and at least
to provide that no discrimination for political reasons enters into them.
In corroboration of the charges made to this Commission with reference
to reductions for political reasons in the Treasury Department the following
figures are of interest: During the six months immediately succeeding the
4th of March, 1889, tnere were in the classified service 'of the Treasury
Department, in places covered by competitive examination, six reductions
and 19 removals. During the corresponding six months succeeding the 4th of
March, 1893, there were no less than 58 reductions and 48 removals. The
difference in the number of reductions is very striking. That the persons
reduced were certainly in the great majority of cases, and probably in all
the cases, Republicans is shown, among other things, by the fact that no less
than 50 of the 58 reductions were of people who had entered the service
prior to the classification in 1883.
It has furthermore been charged to the Commission, with offer of proof,
that in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing under the Treasury Depart-
ment there has been and is now discrimination exercised both in appoint-
ments and removals upon the ground of color. There is no provision of the
law or rules allowing the Commission to take cognizance of discrimination
exercised for this reason. It may be well to call the attention of the Presi-
dent to the matter to decide whether, under the law, it would be possible
to promulgate a rule providing that the Commission should investigate and
report concerning such cases hereafter.
As regards these two points of reductions or promotions for political
reasons, and discrimination on the ground of color, the Commission has
received many more complaints of the management of the Treasury De-
partment in the last ten months than ever before; but there is another subject
upon which quite as many complaints were made to the Commission for-
merly as at present. This concerns the appointments and removals in ex-
cepted places, notably the places of Chiefs of Division. The majority of
these places are changed with each administration primarily for political
reasons, and to the serious detriment of the service. The positions should by
rights in all cases be filled by promotion from within the ranks wholly with-
out regard to political considerations. The Commission should therefore
earnestly recommend to the President that the great bulk of these excepted
places be abolished.
Finally, in my opinion, the history of the Gaddis case shows very clearly
the need of adopting a rule which shall provide for the filing «of charges*
whenever a clerk is removed, «and that the* Commission should be given
ample authority to investigate and report, if in its opinion the removal is
made for political reasons, whether or not it purports on its face to be for
a different cause. Yours truly
357
439 ' TO JAMES BRAXDER MATTHEWS Matthews MsS.°
Washington, January 30, 1894
Dear Brander, I am going to look up the Academy article; but Lodge lost
all interest as soon as he found who the author was, as he says he is "an
antiquarian animalcule", of much philological learning and pedantry, who
has always lived in England, and is quite abnormally colonnial in turn of
mind. Very characteristically, Congressman Everett, who is a silly anglo-
maniac, spoke to me of the article with a snigger of approval. I am curious
to see it. My friend, you have drawn blood. .
I am so sorry you have had the grip; I am just getting over a slight attack
myself. I will read your St. Nicholas paper on Franklin at once, and write
you about it.
Of course the lunch you propose will be delightful. I think I can get on
for it — it is needless to say I shall try my utmost to — the only thing that
may be any chance prevent me 5s Mrs. Roosevelt's health.
Let me know when you get the day fixed, and just as far in advance as
possible, so that I may make every effort to be present. A lunch at your
house, with such guests, would be worth travelling a much longer distance
than from Washington to New York.
What an everlasting cad R.H. Davis is!
Warm regards to Mrs. M. Yours ever
440 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift MsS.
Washington, February i, 1894
My Dear Mr. Swift: Just a line, to send you the enclosed statement of the
chairman of the Minnesota Democratic committee and the editorial com-
ment on it. There seems to me to be a good deal of justice in Cutcheon's
complaint! *
I wanted also to tell you how admirably Proctor is doing as Commis-
sioner. We have come to a pretty open break with Secretary Carlisle, who
has declined to hold that it is a violation of law to dismiss a man for political
reasons. We are also having an involved fight over the classification of the
Indian service with the Interior Department. All of these matters will, I
suppose, soon come out in response to the resolution of the Senate demand-
ing information about these cases. But I wanted to keep you informed from
time to time how things went. I do wish we had power to investigate re-
movals. I have become convinced during the last five years that we ought to
1 F. W. M. Cutcheon resigned as chairman of the Minnesota State Democratic Com-
mittee, stating his reason as disapproval of "the policy adopted by the present ad-
ministration, which is at once retrogressive from the standpoint of the reformer, and
unjust from the standpoint of the partisan." "This system," Cutcheon observed, "re-
tains all the vices characteristic of die spoils system and possesses none of its redeem-
ing qualities." — The Civil Service Chronicle, 2:102-103 (February 1894).
358
have this power. If we don't it is almost impossible to prevent what I ani
inclined to think has occurred in Ft. Wayne and at various other Indiana
post offices recently.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Swift. Very sincerely yours
441 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Slfftft MsS.
Washington, February 7, 1894
Dear Swift: I am glad you went down to Ft. Wayne.1 1 only wish you could
go to La Porte, to Evansville, and to several other Indiana offices. We have
had more complaints from the Indiana offices than from any others. As I
wrote you, I have long been growing to believe that we must have some
power to investigate dismissals in all cases, and at least to file our opinion in
the case; and I am as firmly convinced as ever that full and detailed reasons
should be given for the dismissal of each man, and that then he should be
heard in his own defense. There are a number of cases in different post
offices in the South where I am convinced that the reasons alleged for dis-
missing certain carriers are mere pretenses; but nevertheless, under the pres-
ent rules, the Commission is powerless to do justice. We are having a great
fight with a good fellow, Secretary Herbert of the Navy, over the Mont-
gomery post office, where the postmaster has behaved very badly. He is
being supported cordially because he represents the administration, or anti-
Populist wing of the Democracy; which is of course very creditable to him,
but which has nothing to do with his administration of the post office and
with the civil service law. Our fight with Carlisle comes on broad grounds,
for he has taken the view that it is not a violation of the law to dismiss a
man for political reasons, and that even if it is, the remedy must lie in the
courts, and that the head of a department need not make his subordinates
observe the law. I do wish I could see you and Foulke and have a long talk.
Cordially yours
442 • TO CASE BRODERICK RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, February 8, 1894
Dear Sir:1 I was much surprised at the receipt of your letter containing
the account of the favorable report of Mr. Houk's bill, H.R. 4017, from the
Committee on the Judiciary. I thank you for your courtesy in calling the
matter to my attention. This bill is precisely similar to one presented by Mr.
Bynum of Indiana and referred to the Civil Service Committee, by which it
1 Foulke and Swift had investigated repeated complaints of partisan manipulation in
the Fort Wayne post office, finding Postmaster W. W. Rockhill "corrupted with the
view that he must make places for partisans." — The Civil Service Chronicle, 2:103
(February 1894).
*Case Broderick, Republican congressman from Kansas, 1891-1899.
359
has not been reported. I appeared before the Civil Service Committee in
opposition to it, and I should certainly have appeared before the Judiciary
Committee in opposition to this had I known there was any intention of
acting on such a measure. I should like to be heard before the committee
about it, but as this may now be impossible I will take advantage of your
courtesy and give the following reasons why the bill should not be made
into a law:
The classification of the railway mail service was originally ordered by
President Cleveland, to take effect on March ijth, 1889. It was absolutely
impossible for the Civil Service Commission to complete the classification
by that date, and in consequence the classification was deferred until May i,
1889, at which date it actually took effect nine days before I myself was
appointed Civil Service Commissioner. Advantage was taken of the delay in
the classification to turn out twenty-three hundred Democratic clerks, re-
placing them, without examination, with Republicans. This was undoubtedly
an outrage. But in the first place it is all wrong to try to cure it by commit-
ting another wrong now, and in the next place it was an outrage precisely
similar in character to what has occurred in a number of the newly classified
post offices within the last eight months. In 1889 the Republican administra-
tion of the Post Office Department took advantage of the necessary delay
in classifying the railway mail service to make sweeping removals of Demo-
cratic clerks and replace them by Republicans, just before the law went into
effect. In 1893 the Democratic postmasters at Plattsburg, N.Y., at Topeka
and Kansas City, Kans., at Galesburg, Bloomington and Quincy, 111., at
Athens, Ga., and in several other places took advantage of the necessary
delay in the classification of the free delivery post offices to make sweeping
removals among the Republican clerks and carriers in their offices and to
replace them by Democrats, just before the classification went into effect.
The cases are precisely parallel, and it is rank dishonesty to try to cure one
and not cure the other. If the Democratic employes dismissed before the
classification of the railway mail service in 1889 are to be restored, then the
Republican employes dismissed before the classification in the offices above
mentioned in 1893 ought to be restored. The truth is that neither one set
nor the other should be restored. The only safe rule to follow in dealing
with the civil service law is to deal with each office and branch of the Gov-
ernment from the moment it becomes classified, and not take into account
what went on before. If we do endeavor to take into account what went on
before we are entangled in an absolutely hopeless mesh of ... committed
by both sides during the preceding years, and it is quite impossible to rem-
edy any of these wrongs without committing fresh wrongs in turn. The
proposed bill of Mr. Houk does not, it is true, provide that the Postmaster
General must reinstate the old clerks, but only that he may reinstate them,
but immediately upon its enactment into law the greatest pressure would be
brought to bear to create vacancies in order that reinstatements might be
360
made. Of the twenty-three hundred clerks appointed to fill the places of the
Democrats turned out but nine hundred now remain in the service ... so
that the bulk of the places are now filled by people who came in through
the civil service examinations, very many of whom were themselves Demo-
crats. In most cases, therefore, the reinstatement would result in the turning
out, not of the original beneficiary of the wrong, but of some innocent and
honest outsider. Moreover, the persons who would be reinstated would be
the very persons who ought not to be reinstated. The discharged railway
mail clerks who were honest, capable men have now, five years after their
discharge, undoubtedly gotten places where they are at work at good salaries.
It is precisely those who are incapable and who originally got their places
merely through political favoritism, but who have now banded themselves
together in political associations for selfish purposes, who would get rein-
stated under the proposed law. It must be remembered that all of the twenty-
three hundred clerks turned out in 1889 simply suffered under the same
spoils system through which they had received their appointments. During
the Democratic administration of 1885-1889 nearly 90 per cent of the Re-
publican railway mail clerks were turned out and were supplanted by Demo-
crats. During the two months before the classification of the service under
the succeeding Republican administration 46 per cent of the entire force, or
about half of the Democrats in it, were turned out by the Republicans.
Then the office was classified. No appointments or dismissals for partisan
reasons have been since made, and it would be mischievous in the extreme
now to go back to the old system and allow the reinstatement of the men
thus originally appointed for spoils reasons.
The Commission has found by actual experience that it is a detriment to
the public service to allow the reinstatement of a man who has been out
that service for more than a year. With each change of administration par-
tisans of the party which has returned to power endeavor to secure the rein-
statement of their party friends who have been turned out. When President
Harrison's administration came into power the Commission found that dur-
ing the preceding Democratic administration of the Baltimore postoffice no
less than 96 per cent of the Republicans had been turned out and their places
supplied by Democrats, and great efforts were made to induce the Commis-
sion to allow the reinstatement of all the Republicans who had thus been
dismissed for party reasons. The Commission steadily opposed the proposed
proceeding on the ground that while injustice might sometimes be remedied,
the general result would be absolutely bad, and the effect would be to intro-
duce a system of sweeping removals and sweeping reinstatements with each
change of administration, for political reasons. The proposed action to be
taken with reference to Democratic railway mail clerks is precisely the action
that was proposed to be taken in reference to the Baltimore post office clerks
and letter carriers four years ago. But there is in this instance an additional
reason for opposing the bill because during the present administration in a
361
number of post offices precisely the same course has been followed as was
followed four years ago in the railway mail service; and it is pitiable injustice
to try to remedy one set of cases and not remedy the other. The bill is
simply a bill for the partial reintroduction of the spoils systtem and for the
demoralization of the railway mail service; it is thoroughly mischievous, and
I sincerely hope it will fail. If there is any further information which you
wish I shall be most happy to furnish it. I write this officially, by the direc-
tion, and with the approval, of the Commission. Very cordially yours
443 -TO WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE Foulke
Washington, February 10, 1894
My Dear Foulke: I have just received the report of your investigation, and
will bring it first of all to the attention of the Commission, and will then
lay the testimony before the Postmaster General. I have been writing several
times recently to Swift about this Fort Wayne matter. I have been thor-
oughly dissatisfied not only with the Fort Wayne business, but with what
has gone on at La Porte, at Evansville, and at two or three other Indiana
offices. As you know, I don't sympathize with the civil service reformers
who think that there ought to be no check upon removals. I think we ought
to be given power to investigate all removals and to report whether or not
in our opinion they were due to political reasons; and we ought to be able
to require full and detailed charges to be made which can be published if
the accused desires it, and the accused should have full and ample hearing.
The law is clumsily framed, merely stating, as you know, that no man shall
be dismissed for declining to be coerced in his political action, or for declin-
ing to render a political service. The Commission has construed this as mean-
ing that no man shall be dismissed because of his political opinions or affilia-
tions; but recently both the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
the Treasury have denied our right to put any such construction upon it.
Carlisle did this specifically, and we have accordingly prepared a brief upon
his case and taken the matter to the President, with the recommendation
that he declare in General Rule I specifically that no man shall be dismissed
because of his political opinions or affiliations. We are also going to bring
a rule before him allowing us to investigate all cases of removals where there
is a reasonable ground for believing that the actions of the nominating offi-
cer were due to political considerations. In the Ft. Wayne matter I fully
believe that the charges upon which Slater was last removed were merely
trumped up, but I do not see how I can prove it in a way that would give
me a strong case that I always have to have before making a decision, in
view of the fact that I have to defend that decision not only before the
departments but before a possibly hostile Congressional majority. The charge
upon which Slater was first turned out was shown to be false, and the Post
Office Department acted very squarely in reinstating him on the request of
362
the Commission. It is difficult for me to believe that the inspector who ac-
quitted him of this charge but found him guilty of others acted squarely in
the matter. Horstman's case I have already had before the department and
have been fighting them about it.1 I am exceedingly glad you went down
and made the investigation. It may be that with this as a basis I can do some-
thing more. If you can spare time to go to La Porte, or indeed to almost
any other Indiana office, I should be very grateful. \Ve have had a fearful
conflict over the Montgomery post office, during the course of which we
got embroiled with Secretary Herbert, whose warm personal and political
friend the postmaster proved to be.
Do try to get on here to Washington. I want to show you how things
are going more in detail that I can with a letter. I will let you know at once
any action we take. Cordially yours
444 • TO FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER Turner
Washington, February 10, 1894
My Dear Sir: I have been greatly interested in your pamphlet on the Fron-
tier.1 It comes at the right time for me, for I intend to make use of it in
writing the third volume of my "Winning of the West," of course making
full acknowledgment. I think you have struck some first class ideas, and
have put into definite shape a good deal of thought which has been floating
around rather loosely. Very sincerely yours
445 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Washington, February 1 1, 1894
Darling Bye, I hope you will be presented at court; in your position you
ought to be. What snobs the Hays are! they have no business to bring out
their daughter abroad. If you see Gussie Jay give him a hint that if he edu-
cates his children abroad he will lose all chance of being returned to our
diplomatic service, and ought to lose it.
Uncle Jim wishes to buy only my ten acre lot. Do you know who sur-
veyed it, or where I can find out? I want to start it for Uncle Jim as soon
as possible. Edith is well; and Kermit has remained unstricken, while all the
others are recovering and at this moment are playing upstairs with furious
energy.
1 Slater and Horstman had been dismissed as postal employees at Fort Wayne on fake
charges advanced by Postmaster Rockhill.
1 Frederick Jackson Turner, then professor of American history at the University
of Wisconsin, had presented his great essay, "The Significance of the Frontier in
American History," the previous July at a meeting of the American Historical
Association. See Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the
Year 1893 (Washington, 1894), pp. 199-227.
363
I am so glad you are having this winter in London; it is everything for
Rosy in the first place, and in the next I am glad for your own sake.
London is such a world in itself (do you realize that it is far more popu-
lous than the entire empire of Queen Elizabeth and Shakespeare?) that I
suppose you get your own little set, besides a general knowledge of all sets,
and no human being counts for enough to be of real importance in the
maelstrom. I wish that I could be over with you for a fortnight; I would
enjoy it so much; and there are a number of people whom I would greatly
like to see.
Washington is just a big village, but it is a very pleasant big village.
Edith and I meet just the people we like to see. This winter we have had a
most pleasant time, socially and officially. All I have minded is that, though
my work is pleasant, I have had to keep at it so closely that I never get any
exercise save an occasional ride with Cabot. We dine out three or four times
a week, and have people to dinner once or twice; so that we hail the two or
three evenings when we are alone at home, and can talk and read, or Edith
sew while I made ineffective bolts at my third volume. The people we meet
are mostly those who stand high in the political world, and who are there-
fore interested in the same subjects that interest us; while there are enough
who are men of letters or of science to give a pleasant and needed variety.
Then besides our formal dinners, we are on terms of informal intimacy in
houses like the Caboty's, the Storers, the Wolcotts and Henry Adams. It is
pleasant to meet people from whom one really gets something; people from
all over the Union, with different pasts and varying interests, trained, able,
powerful men, though often narrow minded enough.
This is like a spring day, and Cabot and I have just returned from a three
hours ride over die fields and beside the Potomac. I am writing in great
difficulties, for Ted is lying on my back, having climbed up on the chair
behind me; he says (at the top of his voice in my ear, his paddy-paws round
my neck) "Give Auntie Bye a hundred bear-waves, first; we wish she was
here; I know I love her very much." Your loving brother
446 • TO WILLIAM DUDLEY FOULKE Foulke
Washington, February 17, 1894
Dear Foidke: Many thanks for your note. As you know, the Commission
has for years been insisting upon the absolute need of outsiders being allowed
on the examining boards. The law on this point is defective, owing to one
of Dorman B. Eaton's freaks. Eaton has done an immense amount of good
for the reform, but oh how much harm he has done also. By the way, do
tell Swift to show up this last infamy exposed in the Patent Office,1 in ref-
erence to Seymour, Quincy and even Hamlin. Cordially yours
1 See Roosevelt to Swift, No. 447,
364
447 * T0 LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT StStft Ms*.
Confidential Washington, February 26, 1894
Dear Mr. Swift: I hardly know what paper to advise you to take. The Wash-
ington Post is apt to have tolerably full news, but its editor is a particularly
blackguard spoilsman. The Washington Evening Star is a civil service reform
paper, but, like many other evening papers, often does not get the full news.
It is a real misfortune that we no longer have any daily paper which will
tell the thing in full. I am disgusted with the action of many of our papers.
I was glad to read what you wrote about the Peckham nomination.1 I
cordially favored Peckham, and I did all I could to induce Lodge to vote for
him; but I must say it disgusted me to see the way the patronage was used
in the effort to control the vote. It was as barefaced a thing as I ever saw
done; and the President is now backing up Quincy in every way. Whether
Quincy is or is not guilty of the worst offenses charged, it is admitted that
he, while Assistant Secretary of State, interested himself on behalf of a
Democratic "fake" company that wanted the Patent Office Gazette print-
ing; that this printing was taken away from the firm that had had it for
twenty-one years, and given to one which had no plant whatever, and was
organized the day before the bids were put in, solely because it was desired
by Hoke Smith and Quincy and Seymour, the Patent Commissioner, to give
the printing as a political plum to some political friends; and, moreover, I
don't see how anyone can fail to regard the bid of this straw company as
fraudulent on its face. The result has been that for the last six months the
Patent Office Gazette has been issued in worse shape than ever before in a
quarter of a century. It was all through as dirt)' a piece of low political job-
bery as I have ever come across. It was worse than what Raum did in the
Pension Office.
1 Cleveland had nominated Wheeler Hazard Peckham, a leading Democratic lawyer
from New York, for the vacancy on the Supreme Court caused by the death of
Justice Blatchford. The President had first proposed William A. Hornblower for the
position, but Senator David B. Hill blocked the appointment because of Horn-
blower's participation in the investigation of the scandalous activities of Isaac H.
Maynard, one of Hill's political allies. The disclosures of the committee of investiga-
tion resulted in Maynard's crushing defeat as a candidate for the New York Court
of Appeals.
Peckham was even less acceptable to Hill than was Hornblower. As President of
the Bar Association, Peckham had vigorously opposed Maynard. In 1888 he had
fought Hill's nomination and election. Hill retaliated, at the same time satisfying his
jealousy of Cleveland, by marshaling the opposition to Peckham's confirmation. He
capitalized on the dissatisfaction of Democratic senators with Cleveland's stand on the
tariff and silver issues. He enlisted Lodge and Hoar through a secret bargain bv
which he promised Democratic votes to defeat the nomination of one of Lodged
enemies as consul at Sherbrooke, Quebec. In spite of the deft counter-manipulations
of Josiah Quincy in Peckham's behalf, the Senate rejected Peckham by an "emphatic"
vote. The entire affair, significant in both national and New York politics, was a
"signal victory" for senatorial courtesy and for Hill. For further details, see Nevins,
Cleveland, pp. 569-572.
365
In three or four days we send up a complete list of our investigations
and reports to the Senate. I will be very glad to have them printed. I shall
send a copy on to you at once. You will there see what I have reported in
the Hamilton, Ohio, post office case. It was substantially what you reported
in the Fort Wayne case. In urging the Commission to investigate all these
post office matters you must not forget how circumspectly we have to move
so as to avoid giving our innumerable enemies a chance to make a good point
on us. Often and often where I am morally certain that a given state of
affairs exists I can't report so, because whatever I report I have got to be
ready at any time to defend by proof before a hostile department or before
a hostile committee of Congress. I want you to read our report to the Senate
carefully. [The rest of this letter is handwritten.] Remember too that in the
new Free Delivery offices we are still somewhat hampered by the fact that
the men in office were largely political appointees when the office was clas-
sified; you remember writing me last June to the effect that we would have
to expect a good many removals of such.
Heileman the new Sup't of Indian Schools is a trump; but we have had
a good deal of difficulty with him, because he, like so many other good men,
feels how well he could do if it were not for the law, and does not see how
it protects him. He proposed a scheme of "non-competitive" examinations
which would really have amounted to a return to the old methods; and
lamented that our papers did not test the applicants' "altruism"! But he is
now coming round aU right, I think, mainly owing to some experiences he
has had with the politicians here.
Warm regards to Mrs Swift. Sincerely yours
448 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift MsS.
Washington, March 3, 1894
Dear Sivift: I enclose a copy of our report about violations of the law. I call
your attention particularly to the Gaddis case. I see no real improvement in
Carlisle in the Treasury Department over Wanamaker in the Post Office
Department. The essential feature in the Gaddis case is, of course, Carlisle's
holding that it is not a violation of law to dismiss a man for political reasons,
and that anyhow, if there is a violation, he will take no notice of it, but will
leave it to the courts. The animus of the Treasury Department has been
shown by a recent action. One of their clerks, a Georgia Democrat, pub-
lished a column article in the Washington Post furiously attacking the Com-
missioners individually on charges pronounced false three years ago by a
Congressional investigating committee. I called this matter to Secretary
Carlisle's attention, pointing out the gross impropriety of a subordinate of
one department attacking a head of another, and giving him quotations from
the report of the Congressional committee, showing that the charges were
mere slanderous untruths. As soon as our report came out be promoted this
366
man from $1400 to $2000, evidently lacking the nerve to answer us or take
any issue with us, preferring to respond by this little exhibition of spite, as
silly as it is contemptible.
If there are any facts about this report which you do not understand
pray let me know. Very truly yours
449 • TO MADISON GRANT Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, March 3, 1894
My Dear Grant: * Many thanks for your letter. I am at present at work on
the third and fourth volumes of my Winning of the West, but they will
only take me down through Wayne's victory- and the treaties of Jay and
Pinckney. The next volumes I take up I hope will be the Texan struggle and
the Mexican War. I quite agree with your estimate of these conflicts,
and am surprised that they have not received more attention.
I think your suggestion for an article for our next volume just the thing,
and I am almost sorry I have you on the moose article now, for I would
like to start you at it; but don't you think you and I and Grinnell 2 could
get the article on the names of our game up together and have it put in
unsigned as editorial matter?
Our species certainly are distinct from those of Europe as a rule; but
speaking scientifically, I think you will find I am correct in what I say of
their close relationship. The best zoologists nowadays put North America
in with North Asia and Europe as one arctogeal province, separate from
the South American, Indian, Australasian, and South African provinces,
which have equal rank. Our moose, Wapiti, bear, beaver, wolf, etc., differ
more or less from those of the Old World but the difference sinks into
insignificance when compared with the differences between all these forms,
Old World and New, from the tropical forms south of them. The wapiti is
undoubtedly entirely distinct from the European red deer; but I don't think
the difference is as great as between the black-tail and white-tail deer. It's
normal form of antler is, as you describe, six points, all on the same plan,
without any cup on top, and the fourth or dagger point having a promi-
nence which it does not have at all in the European red deer; but occasion-
ally, especially in Oregon and Washington, elk are found with this cup, and
when a rather undersized Oregon elk possessing this cup is compared with
one of the big red deer of Asia Minor, which are considerably larger than
those of Europe, the difference is less by a good deal than the difference
between the black-tail and white-tail. But all of these points can very inter-
1 Madison Grant, New York City lawyer, explorer and naturalist, member of the
Boone and Crockett Club.
•George Bird Grinnell, editor of Forest and Stream, 1876-1911. His position as
naturalist with General Custer*s expedition into the Black Hills in 1874 started
a long and extraordinarily full career dedicated to the observation of nature in many
lands.
367
estingly be treated in the article to which you refer; and, as I say, I think
it would be admirable, and we must certainly adopt it and put it into execu-
tion. Do send me your moose piece as soon as you can. Cordially yours
[Handwritten.] P.S. The moose, caribou and wapiti, for instance are
very close indeed to their old-world relatives, when either are compared
with the South American or Indian deer.
450 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchilTZ Ms*.
Washington, March 3, 1894
Dear Mr. Schurz: I enclose a copy of our report to the Senate in reference
to violations of the law. We take in everything of importance under Harri-
son and this first year of President Cleveland. I ask your attention particu-
larly to the last example, the Gaddis case, in the Treasury Department. You
will notice that we give the Secretary's own letters, so that you have the
case as stated by himself. I summed up the matter in my report to the Com-
mission, which appears in the last galley. The main point, upon which too
much stress cannot be laid, is that he seems to hold that a removal for politi-
cal reasons is not a violation of the law, and takes the position that if one of
his subordinates does violate the law the only remedy lies in the courts. As
I point out in my report, this was precisely Mr. Wanamaker's position. I
also call attention to the color line drawn in making dismissals, and to his
reducing and promoting for sectional and political reasons. The head devil
in this is of course Logan Carlisle; but this does not excuse the Secretary,
and, as a matter of fact, the Treasury Department, as far as the civil service
law is concerned, is doing quite as badly as the Post Office Department did
under Mr. Wanamaker.
A funny instance of Mr. Carlisle's queer, timid obliquity of method is
furnished by a recent action of his. One of the Treasury clerks named Cum-
mings, a Georgia Democrat, made an attack upon the Civil Service Commis-
sion, including me by name, in a column article in the Washington Post,
revamping a number of assertions which were officially denounced as false
by a Congressional investigating committee four years ago. I wrote to the
Secretary calling his attention to the gross impropriety of a subordinate of
one department criticising a head of another, and also quoting the part of
the interview that referred to me, and the report of the committee upon the
very points raised, so as to prove that the clerk had maliciously lied. Mr.
Carlisle has not ventured to make any open issue with me upon my report
to the Senate, but has at once rewarded with a high promotion the clerk
who made this slanderous and untruthful report, raising him from $1400 to
$2000. Very cordially yours
[Handwritten] In Harpers Weekly the other day, in an article on Wil-
son, there was this sentence. "Mr. Carlisle . . . possesses the best traits of
trained English legislators, who make a learned profession of their calling."
368
I do'n't know these "trained English legislators"; but if they as described by
this writer, it is a gratuitous slander to compare them with Carlisle. Who
wrote that article, anyhow? I should like to feel his head!
451 -TO HENRY WHITE Henry White Mss.
Washington, March 19, 1894
My Dear Mr. White: l I have just come back to the city, and, as by your
note it seems likely that you will come to America soon, I write this hastily
in the hope of catching you before you sail. I was very sorry to miss you
in New York. I was only there for a day, and so did not leave any address.
My address in Washington is 1215 Nineteenth Street. I wish to see you not
only to thank you for your courtesy to me when in London some years
ago and to express the earnest hope that if my party ever comes back to
powrer I might be of some assistance to you if you cared to re-enter the
diplomatic service (my action being based purely with regard to the good
of the service), but also to talk over various matters connected with our
diplomatic and consular service.
I have not written any paper, as you seem to suppose; I merely made a
short address, throwing out a few ideas, before the National Board of Trade.
I hope to see you when you come to Washington. We may then be able
to discuss the matter at some length, although I will certainly not be able
to give you any new ideas. Very sincerely yours
452 • TO ALEXANDER MONROE DOCKER Y Roosevelt Ms*.
Washington, March 28, 1894
My Dear Mr. Dockery: Pray do not forget to give Mr. Proctor and myself
a chance of appearing before you, or all of the Commissioners if you deem
it advisable, on the question of our appropriation.1 All we want is a transfer
to our own roster of the clerks we now have. I want also to present to you
my plan in reference to the dead wood. Very sincerely yours
1 Henry White, diplomatist, virtually perennial First Secretary in London from
1883 to 1904. His intimate continuing knowledge of men and affairs, wisely used by
him in this position, caused Theodore Roosevelt to describe him as **the most use-
ful man in the diplomatic service, during my presidency, and for many years be-
fore." White was later ambassador to Italy and France and a member of the Peace
Cdmmission after World War I.
1From March through August 1894 the Civil Service Commission was under con-
stant hostile attack in the House. Several bills abolishing it entirely were introduced;
a more subtle but equally effective proposal to keep the commission but eliminate
its entire appropriation was put forward by Enloe of Tennessee. The bill received
much Democratic support. Finally in August an expanded appropriation and au-
thorization for additional clerks were granted, but the summer had been a tense
period for all supporters of civil service reform.
369
453 ' T0 ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS
Washington, April i, 1894
Darling Bye, Your letters are just dear. Do tell us about all the funny people
you meet; and do you see anything of the Fergies? Last Monday the Kip-
lings came to dinner, with the Brooks Adams, Langley, Miss Pauncefote,
Willie Phillips & Emily Tuckerman. It was very pleasant. Kipling is an
underbred litde fellow, with a tendency to criticise America to which I
put a stop by giving him a very rough handling, since which he has not
repeated the offence; but he is a genius, and is very entertaining. His wife is
fearful however.
I had to go to Philadelphia for a couple of days, on a fruitless investiga-
tion. My 4th volume is making laboriously painful progress.
Yesterday, Sunday, Edith and I, with Ted, Alice, John Lodge, and vari-
ous assorted friends took a long scramble up Rock Creek. Edith walked so
well, and felt so well, that it was a pleasure to see her. Over some of the
worst rocks I let down the children with a rope; and did much climbing
myself. The spring is later than I have ever seen it in Washington.
Tell Helen how we all look forward to seeing her for a good long visit
at Sagamore. Your loving brother
454 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MottheWS
Washington, April 3, 1894
Dear Brander: I don't usually write that I am sorry to get your letters, but
I was to get this one. In the first place I am sorry about your cough. I sym-
pathize with you on this point keenly, as I have had a cough myself for two
months past, and it was because of this that I was not able to get on to New
York. Now, I can't tell whether I will be able to get on before the first of
June or not, but I shall make every effort, so as to get a glimpse of you
before you leave. I do hope you will have a pleasant trip. It certainly sounds
attractive.
Did you notice Miss Repplier's allusion to your carmencita piece in her
article on pastels? Do you know I think you have had a decidedly chasten-
ing effect on that young lady?
When I see you I want to tell you of a row I have had with the Atlantic
Monthly people over yourself and Lodge. It is an epistolary battle, which
has raged at intervals of a few weeks all winter. I want you to make one or
two cheerful vignettes of New York. I like your vignettes very much, and
if I liked them less I wouldn't feel so melancholy about it. Yours
[Handwritten] P.S. I enclose a sheet from a letter of Trent's,1 just to
show you how he appreciates what you have done; indeed you did render
him a service. The letter was confidential; so do'n't speak of it.
1 William Peterfield Trent, author, editor, critic, professor of English.
370
When, or if, you see Lang, give him my love & tell him I like all his
writing, and especially his reviews and his assaults on the U.S. Do'n't you
like Kipling's "Rhyme of the Three Sealers"?
455 • TO HOKE SMITH Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 7, 1894
Sir: The Commission thanks you for your letter of April 4th, in which you
give the facts as to the removal of Dr. Mahaffey, showing it to be for
reasons non-political in character. The Commission further thanks you for
your statement that you will always be pleased to receive from the Commis-
sion any complaints connected with the removal of employes who have held
positions in the classified service; that you will prevent removals except
where required for the good of the service, and will thoroughly investigate
all causes for complaint. In reference to your very courteous statement that
you will endeavor to relieve the Civil Service Commission from the burden
of investigating removals in those cases where the law leaves the responsi-
bility entirely with the Department, I hasten to assure you that while the
Commission much appreciates your proffer of relief, yet that it does not
intend to investigate any case where the responsibility of the investigation
is not put upon it by the law and the rules; that it never has done so, and
that therefore the Commission will not be obliged to trespass upon your
courtesy in this matter. Very respectfully
P. S. My Dear Mr. Secretary: I am very glad of the position the Interior
Department has taken in reference to the Yellowstone Park. I am going
before Senator Faulkner's Committee to argue against the proposed cutting
down of the boundaries of the park and to try to persuade the committee to
give you proper police power in the matter.
I am the president of the Boone and Crockett Club, which is greatly
interested in this subject. The next time we give a dinner I shall ask you to
be present as our guest, as we much appreciate the stand you have taken in
forestry matters and in the preservation of these parks. It will be an outrage
if this government does not keep the big Sequoia Park, the Yosemite, and
such like places under «touch>. Very truly yours
456 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT C&wleS MsS?
Washington, April 9, 1894
Darling Bye, Edie's boy was born this morning at twenty five minutes of
one; she sufferred less than ever before, and is now so happy; and so darling
and good, in bed with the wee blanketted bundle beside her. He will be
named Archibald Bulloch.
It was over so quickly that Mame who was up stairs did not hear any-
thing. When, at one, I went up to tell her Ted waked up and overheard and
37*
went wHd with delight, promptly rushing in to tell sister. Then they both
sat up in Maine's bed chatterring like parroqueets, and hugging two large
darkey ragdollies which they always take to bed. They were so overjoyed,
and Edie was so well, that I finally let them put on their wrappers and slip-
pers and tiptoe down to see Edie and the baby. They were as cunning about
him as possible and were far too excited to do much sleeping for the re-
mainder of the night.
I am so glad it is all over, and that Edie has had so much less pain than,
after Ethel, we had feared.
The children by the way have been anxious to know whether you in-
tended to show their pictures of the presentation to the Queen. Yowr loving
brother
457 • TO c. P. CONNOLLY R.M.A. Mss.
Washington, April 1 1, 1894
Dear Sir: There are few letters that I have received in reference to my
article1 which gave me such pleasure as yours. You put the matter exactly
as I think it ought to be put. I quite agree with you as to the outrageous
iniquity of condemning a whole class for the misdeeds of a few people. I
can give a concrete example of what I mean. When I was in the legislature
there were a pretty bad lot of Representatives from New York City, as I
am afraid there usually is. Most of these men were Irish by birth or descent.
Of these Irish Catholic members the majority, as I said, were tough citizens;
but three or four of their number, not only from New York, but from
Brooklyn, and a much larger proportion of the Representatives of the same
race origin from the rest of the State of New York, were peculiarly high-
minded men. Now, I simply treated them as I treated the country members,
who were most of them of old American stock; that is, I heartily supported
the good members, and I heartily warred against the bad. I do not claim any
credit for this, because with my makeup it would be quite impossible for
me to take any other attitude. By taking this position I found that the good
men who were opposed to me not only in politics but in religious faith
stood up in support of any move I made for decent government in the most
hearty and cordial manner. I am inclined to think that the warmest backers
I had in the New York legislature were men like O'Neil, Kelly, Costello,
Sheehan, (not the Lt. Governor) Welch, and a dozen others whose names
I could give and whose names sufficiently show the country from which
their ancestors came. In my assembly district in New York my warmest
friends have been as often Catholics as Protestants. I feel that this A.P.A.
business helps the very element in the Catholic church to which I am
opposed, and to which I would be equally opposed in any Protestant church;
and I was glad of a chance publicly to hit them as squarely as I knew how.
1 Theodore Roosevelt, "What Americanism Means," Fonan, 17: 196-206 (April 1894).
372
In appointing a civil service board recently in Michigan I was in doubt
which of two men to put on it, and the local A.P.A. association solved my
doubts by entering a protest against one of the men on the ground that he
was a Catholic. The instant they did so I promptly put that Catholic on,
just as I would have put on the Protestant if he had been opposed merely
because he was a Protestant.
Again cordially thanking you for your letter, which I value all the more
coming from the West, I am, Very sincerely yours
458 • TO FRANCIS LYNDE STETSON Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, April 23, 1894
Dear Frank: x The man about whom I spoke to you is William G. Spencer.
He is under Mr. Jordan, who, I think, is in the Sub-Treasury. Spencer him-
self is a clerk in the Sub-Treasury. I am more than obliged to you for the
heartiness with which you at once said you would write on Spencer's behalf,
though it was of course only what I might have been sure you would do,
old boy. Spencer, and one other man, who is in the classified service, and
will therefore probably be safe, are the only two people in whom I have
a really personal interest, and my interest has been aU the greater in Spencer
since we had the quarrel I told you about three years ago. I haven't seen
him since. He is not well off, and he has been in the Government service for
twenty years or over and has done admirable work; if he has not done
cadmirably* I ask nothing for him; but I understand he is to be «removed»
for political reasons. Until a couple of years ago he was in the classified
service of the custom house, and unfortunately consented to go into the
Sub-Treasury, and is now therefore outside the classified service. His resig-
nation has been asked for to take effect on the 3oth of this month, so if the
action is to be successful it will have to be prompt. I do hope you will be
able to get him retained. It is about the only personal favor I think I should
ask in connection with retention in office. It certainly is the only personal
favor I have ever yet asked of this kind during all the time I have been in
politics, and there is no man I would rather ask it of than of yourself. Faith-
fully yours
459 • TO LUCIUS BTJRRIE SWIFT Swift Mss.
Washington, April 25, 1894
Dear Mr. Swift: — As usual, I read over the last copy of the Chronicle with
great pleasure and interest. As for the proof required of you in relation to
1 Francis Lynde Stetson, a New York corporation lawyer whose firm handled
the business of J. P. Morgan. Stetson was also an active Democrat, an intimate
friend and adviser of Cleveland, who was associated with the firm of Stetson, Jen-
nings and Russell between his terms as President. As Morgan's counsel, Stetson
played a large part in the negotiations between die government and the Morgan-
Belmont syndicate during the depression of 1893.
373
securing the confirmation of Peckham, while I cannot produce evidence
such as would go in a court of law I know that, for instance, Colquitt of
Georgia1 was informed by one of the cabinet officers that if he voted
against Peckham, his brother, who is in the Government service, would be
removed: that before the vote was taken the administration withdrew a
nomination of a postmaster who was personally hostile to Senator Cullom,2
and sent in his name again at once when the Senator voted in the negative:
and that Senator Cockrell's brother-in-law was unexpectedly given a good
appointment just before the vote took place.8 I also know that the candidate
for the Springfield, Illinois post office, having a newspaper in which he had
opposed the confirmation of Peckham was informed that his nomination
would not be considered unless he withdrew his opposition. Of course, I
cannot be quoted myself as to these matters as the information came to me
in each case through men who would not permit me to give their names, but
nobody here would dream of denying the facts. I also agree with you that
it is quite immaterial whether the post offices are all changed in 36 months
or in 38 months, the point being that they are all changed every administra-
tion. I must say that I am somewhat disgusted and disheartened at the antics
of the New York Legislature.4 My own party had such a golden oppor-
tunity, and they have been so silly in frittering it away* I have been writing
to the different members of the Legislature whom I know and to the state
officers but there have been a number of traitors over whom we could get
no hold. I think, however, that our state officers have observed the Civil
Service law itself well, and there is at least that gain.
There is one point, however, where, as you know, I do not agree with
you. For the last 13 years I have been openly and shamelessly addicted to
the habit of primary-going, and I know from my own experience that at
times a very great deal can be done in this way. When I get out of this
place, in a year or two (I ought to go out of it before) I will again begin
going to the primaries in my district and while it may turn out that I am
unable to do anything in this way, on the other hand I may be able to effect
something. I certainly did succeed in doing a good deal at the time I was in
the Legislature. It seems to me difficult to lay down a universal law on this
subject; there are times and places where one can do best independently of
1 Alfred Holt Colquitt, Democratic congressman from Georgia, 1853-1855; governor,
1876-1882; senator, 1885-1894. Colquitt died a few weeks before this letter was
written.
•Shelby Moore Cullom, Republican congressman from Illinois, 1865-1871; governor,
1877-1883; senator, 1883-1913. Conservative, conscientious, but colorless, he made
his major contribution in the field of railroad regulation. He was, as a senator, the
principal author of the bill creating the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The senator mentioned was Francis Marion CockreU, Democratic senator from
Missouri, 1875-1905; he was appointed by Roosevelt to the Interstate Commerce
Commission in 1905.
4 The Republican-dominated New York Legislature had blocked various reform
bills, including one to give the mayor of New York City the right to remove heads
of departments for cause, and one substituting a salary for the sheriff's fee system.
374
the regular party organizations, and there are other times and places when
one can do best by going with them. The Forum for May or June will have
a piece by me in which I shall touch on this subject.
Remember me most cordially to Mrs. Swift. I caught just a glimpse of
Foulke here the other day. We have a stalwart ally in Congress in the shape
of the New York Congressman Isidor Straus.6 Cordially yours
460 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON RobinSOn MSS.°
Washington, May 3, 1894
My own darling little sister, Edith and I were distressed beyond measure to
hear about your many real troubles; you are so unselfish and devoted, and
you always do your duty so faithfully and uncomplainingly, that it seems
utterly unjust that you should suffer.
Poor little Stewartie, give the manly little fellow my love, and say that
I know he has borne himself bravely. My children were all much impressed
and awed when I read them about it.
Darling sister, it is dreadfully hard upon you; much though darling
Auntie was to all of us, she was most to you; any sympathy from me is of
little avail, save that I too loved her so very dearly, and mourned her as
Edith did; but you ought to feel thankful every moment as you think that
for the last ten years of her life Auntie's great and chief source of happiness
— and it was very great happiness — lay in you, in what you always did for
her, and in your children. If ever a woman repaid in after years the love and
care lavished on her when a child, you did; you did more, for you more
than repaid it. Edith has asked Uncle to stay with us at Sagamore for June.
I shall be home much of July. I feel very uneasy about your sickness; do
not worry more than you must, for remember how your children depend
upon you; do not yield to your sorrow more than you must.
It is very sad about Elliott, but there is literally nothing to do. After a
certain number of years and trials no one can help another; and his children
must of course be saved, and Mrs. Hall can best save them. You did very
well.
Edie is so well; we have just had such a lovely drive together; the woods
along Rock Creek are beautiful beyond description.
I have just performed a feat unworthy of a middle-class chimpanzee. I
have lost a check for 130 dollars, a dividend of Edith's which Douglas sent
her three weeks ago; she has written him about it; will you ask him to have
it stopped, and to try to cajole the bank into giving her another?
I think the like dresses so very pretty. Your loving brother
B Isidor Straus, wealthy New York City merchant and philanthropist, friend of
Grover Cleveland, Democratic congressman, 1894-1895.
375
461 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MattheWS
Washington, May 5, 1894
Dear Brander: I am awfully afraid I am not going to be able to get on to
New York before you leave. I am very sorry, as there were some things I
particularly wished to talk over with you. Lodge regretted so much failing
to find you while in New York.
Yes, we have a small boy. I begin to think that this particular branch of
the Roosevelt family is getting to be numerous enough. Mrs. Roosevelt is
very well. She was out for a two hours' drive with me yesterday through
this beautiful country. Are you so fond of New York that you don't care
for the country? If not, I do wish you could come on to Washington some-
rime in the spring, that I may show you Rock Creek when the trees are
budding and the flowers are out. Do you know I don't believe our people
half appreciate how picturesque and beautiful our landscapes are.
I decidedly envy you your reputation as being the champion of Ameri-
can methods and ways in literature, in spelling, and in all other directions.
I reinclose your cowboy article. I like it. I began to be a little doubtful
about my own dialect accuracy. The things I have been trained to observe
I can observe all right, but it is astonishing how difficult it is to record even
what one is familiar with if one is not accustomed to recording it.
If on the other side you see Andrew Lang give him my love. Faithfully
yours
[Handwritten] P.S. Apropos of your article on bookbinding I have just
seen a very beautiful specimen from Philadelphia; a book written by Henry
Adams on Samoa, but not yet published. Warm regards to the Madam.
I am glad the Harvard boys did so well; I had been supplying them with
some arguments.
462 • TO CHARLES HENRY PEARSON PeUTSOn
Washington, May 1 1, 1894
Dear Sir,1 I take the liberty of forwarding you herewith a copy of the
Seivanee Review, in which I had the pleasure of writing a review of your
book, as it may possibly interest you to know how much effect your work
has had even in places so remote from where it was written. All our men
here in Washington who read that kind of thing at all were greatly inter-
ested in what you said. In fact, I don't suppose that any book recently, unless
1 Charles Henry Pearson, British historian and colonial administrator. As Min-
ister of Education in the Australian colony of Victoria he introduced striking in-
novations in the teaching system; as a historian his work in the Middle Ages
brought him into conflict with E. A. Freeman. His book, National Life and Charac-
ter; a Forecast (New York, 1894), reviewed by Roosevelt in the Sewanee Review,
2:353~376 (May 1894), contained 'Very pessimistic conclusions respecting the fu-
ture of mankind."
376
it is Mahan's Influence of Sea Power, has excited anything like as much
interest or has caused so many men to feel that they had to revise their
mental estimates of facts; and I say this, although I don't myself altogether
agree with your forecast. I took so much pleasure in reading it that I was
very glad to have a chance of saying something about it in print, and I had
to keep a rigid check upon myself not to say a good deal more than I did.
There are one or two points that I would like to suggest to you. In the
first place, where you speak of the comparative mercifulness of modern
warfare as being one reason why the inferior races will not be exterminated
or dispossessed bodily by the superior, don't you think that this merciful-
ness would disappear instantly if any of the inferior races began to encroach
on the limits of the superior? What occurs in our own Southern States at
the least sign of a race war between the blacks and whites seems to me to
foreshadow what would occur on a much bigger scale if any black or yel-
low people should really menace the whites. An insurrectionary movement
of blacks in any one of our Southern States is always abortive, and rarely
takes place at all; but any manifestation of it is apt to be accompanied by
some atrocity which at once arouses the whites to a rage of furious anger
and terror, and they put down the revolt absolutely mercilessly. In the same
way an Indian outbreak on the frontier would to this day mean something
approaching to a war of extermination, as after one or two massacres by
the Indians the frontier men, in retaliation, would begin to put to death man,
woman and child, exactly as if they were crusaders; indeed, as the soldiers
did generally during those dismal years included in the "ages of faith." Of
course the central or home population, which is unaffected by the massacres,
would always clamor against the retaliation by the borderers, but if the
movement became sufficiently strong to jeopardize white control I think
this clamor would be hushed, and it would certainly be disregarded.
In the next place, have you ever thought that there are certain modern
trades which entail the exercise of the manlier virtues to a degree that hardly
any trade ever did formerly? Take the immensely developed business of
railroad men, including the superintendents of division, etc. down to the
brakemen, switchmen, conductors, yardmen, and the like. The last time I
dined with General Sherman he expressed his belief that an army composed
of railroad employees would be the most efficient in the whole world, be-
cause the men practice a profession which beyond any other necessitates
the exercise of hardihood, daring, self-reliance, and physical strength and
endurance, so as to train a man's moral, mental, and physical qualities, while
the hours being irregular peculiarly fit a man for the irregular and hazardous
work of the campaign; and obedience is taught, as well as the necessity for
individual initiative. It does not seem to me that any mediaeval trade, or
indeed any trade practiced by men advanced beyond the pastoral stage, has
ever so tended to develop the hardier, manlier, more soldier-like virtues in
the way that our railroad business has tended. All that the men who follow
377
it lack is that preliminary acquaintance with arms which can be gained only
by the man skilled in private war, or by the hunter, but which is of course
far less necessary in teaching a man how to handle a rifle than in teaching
him how to handle a sword or a lance.
I wish much we could see you some time on this side of the water. There
are many of us who would like to have the pleasure of telling you in person
of the enjoyment which we owe to reading your book. Very truly yours
463 • TO WILLIAM DUDLEY FOXJLKE Forfke M.SS.
Washington, May 15, 1894
My Dear Foulke: I am sorry you could not come back here, and I am very
sorry that you did not decide to conduct a little investigation into two or
three things here. I wish you could investigate the free delivery service of
the Post Office Department. They are trying to do the thing squarely, and
though of course they don't reach quite the standard I should like to see,
nevertheless they have done well and have made a great advance over what
was formerly done in the department, and stand far ahead of other depart-
ments; and much that they do is useful as an object lesson to show that it is
perfectly possible to require cause to be stated in detail for every removal.
Are we not to see you here in Washington at all in May or June? Faith-
fully yours
464 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS
Washington, May 20, 1894
Darling Bye, As soon as I received your letter I called on Mrs. Clymer; she
was out of town, but will be back this week, and I shall promptly call again.
I dine out now every night, usually at Cabot's, Storer's, or Henry Adams;
but this evening I go to the nice we-are-gay-bachelors-both Mrs. Hobsons,
to meet Gushing,1 of Zuni Indian fame; and tomorrow to the Camerons,
where I want to hear what some of the silver Senators have to say for
themselves.
Last evening at dinner I met among others the new Senators from Cali-
fornia and Michigan, Perkins2 and Patton. The latter is a Yale man, the
former self made, but very shrewd, honest and kindly. Tom Reed was there,
in his best form. I am on the brink of another row with certain members of
the cabinet over the Civil Service law; but I really do'n't think much of
such rows now, as they have become fairly chronic. Fortunately, since
1 Frank Hamilton Gushing, celebrated ethnologist who spent six years with the Zuni
Indians in New Mexico, was initiated into their priest craft, and thus discovered
the nature of the Indian secret societies. He also found the ruins of the Seven Cities
of Cibola.
•George Clement Perkins, shipowner, banker, railroad administrator; Republican
Governor of California, 1880-1883; senator, 1893-1915.
378
Edith and the children went, I have had to work very hard on my third
volume, which the Putnams want by July ist, to publish in the fall. It has
been very harassing to do it here, with all my other work upon me, with
the temptation of social matters around me, and with the still greater temp-
tation of Edith and the children whenever I sat down to work.
I hope there is no truth in the rumor that Gresham and Bayard have
considered the wisdom of abandonning Samoa. It is a great misfortune that
we have not annexed Hawai; gone on with our navy, and started an inter-
oceanic canal at Nicaragua. The Democrats are in a horrible mess over the
tariff. Lovingly yours
465 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MattheWS
Washington, May 21, 1894
Dear Brander: I cannot say how much I like your examination papers, and
I think, on the whole, this is the best one you have had yet. It is a great
comfort to be engaged on a piece of work well worth doing, and I think
you ought to feel heartily satisfied with the effect you have produced and
are producing upon the very class of young men who need it most.
By the way, I saw a review in the Tribune of Hamlin Garland's new
book of Essays.1 He is a man with some power and with half an idea, but
he is such a hopeless crank that nothing can be done with him, I fear. He is
one of the very men who give us most trouble in producing a spirit of sane
Americanism, because his excessive foolishness creates a reaction against us.
Do you know I think you have had a decidedly chastening effect upon Miss
Agnes Repplier?
If you ever come on here again I want you to meet Senator Cushman
Davis of Minnesota.2 He is a remarkable man, and gifted with great capacity
for apt quotation. He is on this new investigating committee of the Senate,
and when the committee met he remarked that its evident intent reminded
him of Byron's description of Mitford, who, "had every characteristic of a
historian, — violent partiality, and abundant wrath."
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Matthews. I do hope you have a most
pleasant trip. Faithfully yours
1 Hamlin Garland, author, prose laureate of the middle border had just published
Crumbling Idols (Chicago, 1894).
* Cushman Kellogg Davis, Republican senator from Minnesota, 1887-1900. Versatile
and talented, Davis was a veteran of the Civil War; Governor of Minnesota, 1873-
1875; a leading lawyer in the Northwest; author of a book on Shakespeare and a
biography of Napoleon. As a senator he was distinguished for his consistent sup-
port of American expansion. He was one of the leading advocates of the annex-
ation of Hawaii. In 1898-1899 Davis served on the commission to negotiate peace
with Spain. At the height of his career and powers, he died in 1900 while cam-
paigning for McKinley.
379
466 • TO ALEXANDER MONROE DOCKERY SchWTZ
Washington, May 24, 1894
Dear Sir: — In the Congressional Record of May 23rd Mr. Pendleton of
West Virginia is quoted as saying: "The present Civil Service Commission
is so organized that only the members of one political party have any oppor-
tunity of standing a fair examination." Mr. Enloe added: "As bearing upon
that point, I understand that nearly all the clerical force connected with the
Civil Service Commission are Republicans and they mark the papers and
pass upon the examinations of candidates." These two statements amount to
a direct charge that the Commission discriminates against Democrats and
is guilty therefore of fraud and misconduct. I denounce this charge as un-
qualifiedly untrue, and I challenge the production of a particle of proof in
its support. Of course, no such charge should be uttered by anyone unless
he is prepared to back it up at once by proof. I suggest that your Commit-
tee hold an investigation as to the proof of this particular charge and I shall
be delighted to have only the Democratic members take part in the investi-
gation on this particular point and suggest that you call before you only the
Democratic President of the Commission and the Democratic subordinates
of the Commission.
Of the male clerks and examiners at present with the Commission, includ-
ing both the Commission's own force and the detailed force,
12 are Democrats 16 are Republicans
2 Independents 3 Prohibitionists
and i a Populist.
Until today the Commission had not known the politics of many of the
subordinates at all, and of the others it had known the politics only acci-
dentally; but on reading this direct charge of partisanship the Commission
made inquiry in the matter.
I wish to point out further that most of the Commission's examiners are
detailed to it from the Departments. The heads of these departments are all
Democrats and if they saw fit could detail to us none but Democrats, so that
the Commission is, as regards these details, powerless to determine the politi-
cal complexion of the board. As a matter of fact in not one single instance
has the Commission or its board of examiners ever discriminated for or
against an eligible because of his political or religious opinions or affiliations,
and any statement to the contrary is a deliberate and wilful untruth. I beg
leave to refer you to Congressman Straus, who recently made a thorough
investigation of the workings of this office and who can inform you that
not only are accusations like those brought by Mr. Alderson and Mr. Pen-
dleton untrue, but that it is impossible they should be true. As regards the
380
general subject, I should like to meet before your committee any Congress-
man making any accusations of misconduct such as those made in the recent
debate against the Commission and I challenge the production before you
of a particle of proof in support of any such accusation. I suggest that if you
make this investigation you request the gentlemen making these charges to
appear before your Committee together with the Commission and make
their charges good.
In the Congressional Record of May 24th Mr. Stockdale appears as say-
ing that the law for apportioning employes among the several states and
territories according to population is being violated; that the Commission,
which is charged with the specific duty of seeing the law executed, turn
their backs when it is being violated and thus help its violation; that the
Commissioners know the law is violated and are inexcusable for its being
violated, and that they consent to its violation. This statement is wholly and
absolutely untrue and no scintilla of proof can be brought forward in its
support. I challenge Mr. Stockdale to appear before the Civil Service Com-
mittee face to face with the Commissioners and prove his assertion. If he
had listened to the speech of Congressman Grain of Texas or to that of
Congressman DeForest of Connecticut he would have been saved from
making assertions for which there is not a particle of foundation in fact.
Congressman Williams of Mississippi attacked the Commission in sub-
stance because under the Commission, white men and men of color are
treated with exact impartiality. As to this I have only to say that as long as
the present Commissioners continue their official existence they will not
make, and so far as in their power lies, will refuse to allow others to make,
any discrimination whatsoever for or against, any man because of his color,
any more than because of his politics or religion. We do equal and exact
justice to all and I challenge Mr. Williams or anyone else to show a single
instance where the Commission has failed to do this. Mr. Williams specified
the Railway Mail Service in Mississippi as being one in which negroes are
employed. The books of the Railway Mail Service for the division including
S. Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi were shown me
yesterday and according to these books about 3-4 of the employes are white
and 1-4 colored. Under the last administration it was made a reproach to us
that we did full and entire justice to the Southern Democrats and that
through our examinations many hundreds of them entered the classified
service although under a Republican administration. Exactly in the same
way it is now made a reproach to us that under our examinations honest and
capable colored men are given an even chance with honest and capable
white men. I esteem this reproach a high compliment to the Commission for
it is an admission that the Commission has rigidly done its duty as required
by law without regard to politics or religion, and without regard to color.
Very respectfully
467 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoiuleS MSS.°
Washington, May 27, 1894
Darling Bye, Washington is too beautiful for anything now, with all the
trees out and the tulip-trees in particular all in bloom.
I like much Senator Davis of Minnesota, who is an impossible wife. He
is an odd-looking man who worked his way up from the ranks; he served in
the Civil War, and in the Senate made a great record by his bold assault on
Cahenselyism. He is extremely well read, in English, Greek and Latin; except
John Ropes,1 he is the best authority I know on Napoleonic matters. The
other day he remarked, anent an investigating committee on which he and
Cabot were both serving, that it reminded him of Byron's description of
Mitford: "He had every qualification of a historian; extreme partiality and
abundant wrath."
The other night I dined with Mrs. Hobson to meet "Zuni" Gushing. He
can talk of nothing but the Pueblo Indians, and that strange southwest; but
on both these subjects he was really most interesting. That is a singular coun-
try; you saw something of it. New Mexico and Arizona will ultimately have
a dense population in thin belts on the irrigated lands; and the basic element
of this population will be Indian, though English will be the language, and
there will be a large admixture of white blood.
I called three times on Mrs. Clymer and finally found her in. She was as
nice as possible, and said that Mrs. Bayard had written her it was so very
nice to have you; and she really felt badly when she thought you were going
away in the spring. Do give my warm regards to the Bayards.
I have seen something of Hitt, of Illinois, recently. He is the most
charming talker I know; he has a fund of knowledge and experience, and
is a man of wide reading; and he can tell what he knows that is worth telling.
I never dine or lunch in now, having a multitude of friends with more
or less hospitable boards. I tried to see a good deal of the Allan Johnston's
but I can't; Allan is a thoroughly good feUow, but he is not a quarter of an
inch deep. So with the Goschens, whom I tried to like; they are nice people,
but worse bores than Senator Higgins — and farther than that no mortal
can go.
We have had a fierce brush in the house over C. S. reform, but won.
We'll win right along I think; but I am personally in such a tangle of ani-
mosity with Carlisle & Hoke Smith — a pair of scoundrels, especially Car-
lisle— that I may have to go at any moment. Yours
ajohn Codman Ropes, military historian, authority on Napoleonic wars and the
American Civil War.
382
468 • TO A. C. BERNHEIM SchUTZ M.SS.
Washington, May 31, 1894
My dear Sir: — 1 Many thanks for your courtesy in writing me I am de-
lighted to answer you. The answer is, however, perfectly simple, the state-
ment is a mere lie. I have never written to Mr. Hewitt in my life that I now
recollect, and I never either wrote or spoke to him a word in reference to
his taking the mayoralty nomination, and knew nothing about his taking
it until I saw it in the papers. Will you kindly give me the names of any
of the men who said that this was so? No person has any business to repeat
such a mere slanderous falsehood. I cannot now recollect distinctly, but I
think I was out in the west when Hewitt was nominated, returning but two
or three days before my own nomination. I am really indebted to you for
writing and letting me know about the matter. I did not suppose that there
was more than the average amount of political lying concerning the mayor-
alty campaign that year, but upon my word this makes me think I must
almost be mistaken; this is such a brand new type of falsehood. Very truly
yours
469-10 ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS M.SS?
Washington, June 3, 1894
Darling Bye, Any letters which are to reach me after July ist should be sent
to Oyster Bay.
I wish I could see the Luttrell's house; it must be really enchanting.
Mahan has had a great vogue in London, apparently; he has had fuller
recognition there than here. I am very glad I was able to give him a helping
hand at the beginning. I have had to interfere at the Navy Department this
winter in a row between him and Admiral Erben — who is a fine old seadog
with an unaffected contempt for books and their makers.1
It was Daisey Chanler's boy. They have been heartbroken over it. Nan-
nie has just gone on to spend a week with them; she will be a comfort to
Daisey.
Jack Astor's book was astonishing;2 if Kermit had written one I could
1 A. C. Bernheim, New York City broker.
1 Henry Erben, who was everything Roosevelt said he was in this letter, was also
flag officer on Mahan's cruiser, the Chicago, when the ship made a European cruise
in 1893-1894. The "row," a celebrated incident, was a product of two dissimilar
temperaments confined within one ship. It was intensified by the warm reception
Mahan received at each port of call.
'John Jacob Astor, a great-grandson of the founder of his family's fortune, ex-
pended his imagination, energy, and wealth on many ventures. In the course of
his life, he wrote books, invented a bicycle brake, built the Astoria Hotel, developed
a pneumatic road improver, and traveled widely. The book referred to here is A
Journey in Other Worlds, a Romance of the Future (New York, 1894).
383
not have been more impressed. It is not a very good book, of course; but it
is not much worse than Jules Verne's poorer works; and as Jules Verne is
readable this is saying a good deal.
As Nannie has been away this week Cabot and I have been dining stead-
ily together, either at his house, at Henry Adams, at Mrs. Camerons, or at
the Storers. I am very much pleased that our Senate has said "hands off"
about Hawai; Gresham and Cleavland have been very weak about our for-
eign policy.
I met Aunt Lucy in the street the other day; poor thing, she and Maud
have had a dreadful spring; both have had erysipelas.
Harry White has been very attentive to me, calling again & again. Your
loving brother
470 • TO JOHN WILLIAM FOX FOX MSS.
Washington, June 4, 1894
My Dear Mr. Fox: x I hope you will excuse this informality in address, com-
ing from a fellow-Harvard man who wishes to congratulate you most heart-
ily on the way your novel is opening. Of course I took it up expecting a
good deal, from my memory of the "Mountain Europa"; but it is even better
than I had expected. If the rest of the story goes as well as these first chap-
ters you will have made a lasting and real addition to American literature.
We have had excellent work done in short stories, but it seems to me a pity
that most of our novels just fall short; and so I was peculiarly glad to see
one begin with no promise of failure in this or any other way. I am glad
you have avoided the dialect pit also. Dialect is a good adjunct for a feast,
but it is very poor as a feast itself. I cannot say how pleased I am with the
story. Faithfully yours
471 • TO JOHN WILLIAM FOX Fox MSS.
Washington, June 21, 1894
Dear Mr. Fox: What you said in your letter about the experience in dis-
tributing funds at the time of the plague was so interesting that last night I
ajohn William Fox (John Fox, Jr.) was a vivid, if self-conscious, figure in the
American literary scene. Leaving Harvard in 1883 he worked for two years on
New York newspapers. In 1885 he, with his father and several college friends,
began a mining venture in the Cumberland Mountains. Vexed by the erratic loot-
ings of the mountaineers, he organized an effective police force of his own. Begin-
ning in 1894 with Mountain Europa, he published in rapid succession a series of
books based upon his Cumberland experiences. The novel referred to in this letter, his
second, is A Cumberland Vendetta. His literary activity was briefly interrupted by
his service in the Spanish-American War as a Rough Rider. As a correspondent
for Harper's Weekly he reported much of the action of the war. Returning, he
produced his two most famous books — The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come
(New York, 1903) and The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (New York, 1908). These
works were distinguished by his usual mastery of dramatic structure and sentimental
hokum. In 1908 he married Fritzi Scheff who had achieved her own fame and fol-
lowing in the operettas of Victor Herbert.
384
read it to Cabot Lodge and Henry Adams, with whom I was dining. If you
ever come up through Washington I want you to meet both of them. We
will have a dinner with them and Proctor. Mrs. Lodge, however, emphati-
cally objected to your statement that "if the woman took baths and the
men didn't shoot each other in the back," they would be first-class charac-
ters. On the ground that she saw no earthy reason why you should appar-
ently condone the offense of the men not taking baths, or think that cleanli-
ness was essential to only the one sex.
Leaving this important point, I want to assure you that I will write you
entirely frankly, if you so desire it, about the remaining parts of your story;
but I am very sure it will be a pleasant task to do so. Faithfully yours
472 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.°
Washington, June 24, 1894
Darling Bye, You saw the Derby under very exceptional circumstances; it
was a great spectacle, and well worth seeing.
I wrote to Rosy last week, asking him to come to Sagamore, or down
here. Did'n't I tell you about Jack Astor's book? It is astounding that he
could have written it; it is a rather wooden, but florid adaptation of Jules
Verne; not wholly bad.
Edith writes me that she sent you the Sun, with an account of my counter
stroke on Godkin; so I enclose you his last effort in return. I had him on
the hip!
It is pretty hot here now, but not really oppressive. I am having my
usual rows over Civil Service matters. Not even Wannamaker was a meaner,
smaller cur than Carlisle; he is dishonest, untruthful and cowardly. In fact
(but this is not for publication) Cleavland's second administration is a
lamentable falling off from the first; and the Democrats have given an
exhibition of fairly colossal incompetence. If I read the signs aright they will
meet with humiliating disaster next fall.
Rosy turned up on Friday evening to spend the night, and was a dear
good fellow — minding the heat dreadfully. It was a real pleasure to see him
and have a long talk about you, and his own affairs, and everything. I like
him so much.
Bye, how is your ear? I wish you would go to a first rate London special-
ist about it; the London specialists are the best in the world; and it is too
serious a thing to take any chances with.
Edith has had a hard week; Kermit has a trouble with his knee, for which
he has had to be taken to see Dr. Schaafer. Your loving brother
473 " TO JAMES T- YOUNG National Archives
Washington, June 25, 1894
Dear Sir: — * I have just received your letter and will answer your questions
categorically so far as I am able:
i. — The object of the law in directing an apportionment of appoint-
ments among the States was to secure fair play and not to permit a monopoly
of appointments by any one State. The reason for this was doubtless the old
state and local jealousy. The effect has, on the whole, been unimportant as
far as the good of the service is concerned, although operating sometimes
to defeat those standing highest in the examinations. It has had the effect of
distributing the appointments largely throughout the country and of making
the different sections feel a keener interest in government work. It makes
the competition in ... practically among those from the same State rather
than an inter-State competition. Until now the States have not had anything
like an even share of appointments, the tendency to monopoly being greatest
in the District of Columbia and neighboring States. It has undoubtedly stim-
ulated education and promoted local interest in the federal administration in
sections which formerly did not get many appointments.
2. — As a matter of fact, more emphasis is laid upon the examination than
the service during probation, because we find that in only about one case in
fifty is a man who has passed the examination found unsatisfactory. In my
opinion, it would be better if the appointing officers were more rigid and
if a severer discipline caused a greater number of people to be dismissed
during probation. The small number of removals affords an inference in
favor of the good character and capacity of those appointed and of the
sufficiency of the examinations as practical tests.
3. — Unfortunately we have nothing to do with promotions. They are
matters for departmental action purely, and each department manages them
precisely as it wishes. There would be great difficulties in keeping a really
practical record of efficiency, and the examinations are of much more value
for entering the service than for rising in it. It is the part of wisdom for the
Commission to deal with admission to the service before undertaking to
treat the subject of promotions practically.
4. — I have never considered sufficiently the question of introducing a
detailed system of administrative law in the departments to be able to answer
you in full. I think that we will eventually have to have some such system.
If it is introduced gradually and tentatively I cannot see that there could be
any valid objections to it.
5. — Unquestionably a certain number of government employes are still
dismissed from the service for purely political reasons. These cases are rare
in Washington but are common in some of the smaller offices outside of
1 James T. Young, then a resident of Halle, Germany, had written Roosevelt, com-
paring certain aspects of civil service in Germany and the United States.
386
Washington. A great evil arises from the number of places excepted from
examination, including all the higher places at present. Nearly all these places
should be made subject to examination, as now faithful clerks are afraid to
take them for fear of losing the protection of the law.
6. — The present law should unquestionably be extended by legislation
to cover laborers «The law* has worked so well and the system of registra-
tion of laborers has worked so well that the expediency of such legislation
is not doubtful.
7. — It has been very difficult to secure the prosecution of offenders
under the different penal sections of the law. Nevertheless, these prosecu-
tions have frequently been had, and in a reasonable number of cases have
been successful. Just the other day a postmaster at Newark, Ohio, was fined
$400 for violating the law in making political assessments. Other convictions
have been obtained in Kentucky and New York.
Some of these subjects are touched upon more fully in the Tenth Report,
of which I send a copy herewith, and you will notice that the Commission
has been interested in comparing the administration of the Civil Service in
different countries. Very truly yours
474 • TO CARL SCHURZ Schurz Mss.
Washington, June 25, 1894
Dear Mr. Schurz: I enclose a copy of Good Government, marking the para-
graph. I have had a long talk with Straus, and I think I am gradually going
to get him to the belief that the thing to do is to do nothing. He gets so
worried by the spoils Congressmen that he keeps thinking that it is necessary
to do something to placate them. As I explained to him, it is perfectly useless
to try to do this; that if he did make a concession of any kind it would sim-
ply encourage them to ask more, and that there is not as much need now of
placating them as there was before. Proctor was with me at the time I was
making the explanations; and we have arranged to have Straus and two or
three others meet us here, meeting some of the specimen good employes
who have been in the service some ten years and who have either come in
through our examinations or whom we have had special opportunity for
examining, so as to be able to speak on the practical questions Straus raises.
By the way, Carlisle is perpetrating a fresh piece of infamy. I quite seri-
ously assert that though perhaps scarcely as repulsive a man as Wanamaker,
he is to the full as mean and underhanded a spoilsman and as viciously dan-
gerous to good government. He has just capped the climax by driving one
of the most noted scientific men of the country, Prof. Mendenhall, out of
the Coast Survey by the way he has looted and allowed young Logan Car-
387
lisle to loot that office for pure spoils purposes.1 One of the most striking
instances was in reference to a chief of division who had charge of all the
intricate accounts as well as doing the work necessary to the peculiar scien-
tific needs of the Survey. The man had been nearly a score of years in the
Government employ, and was literally not to be replaced, doing work that
no one else could do, and saving the work of four clerks. To add to the
iniquity of the transaction, while the man was not a politician, he had, as a
matter of fact, when he had voted, voted for Cleveland, and for the last
ten years had been a Democrat, but of course not a party worker. Menden-
hall himself has voted once for Cleveland, and is in no sense a party man,
save as any scientific or literary man whose interests in party are purely
secondary, could be so considered. This chief of division was turned out by
the Secretary in spite of the most emphatic and urgent remonstrances of
Mendenhall. The first man sent down to take his place gave up the position
at once as soon as he found out what the duties were, Carlisle evidently not
having paid the slightest attention to the man's capacity in making the
appointment. Mendenhall then again urged that the old chief be put back.
Instead of this a new man was sent down, a man who avows that he has no
intention of keeping the place, but merely intends spending a few months
in Washington, and has no fitness for the position at all, so that two clerks
have been detailed to do his duty, and a further request for two more clerks
has been made for him. Meanwhile the old man had saved enough of his
salary to begin paying on the installment plan for a $4,000 house and lot.
He has been obliged to stop and give up this now, and with his wife and
children is reduced to absolute want. The whole thing is as brutal as it is
silly. I earnestly wish that it could be made public.
We have just been urging President Cleveland to make a number of
extensions in the classified service, but he has informed us that he cannot
take it up at present. Of course I appreciate that he is immensely bothered
by the tariff struggle, and all the other matters that weigh upon him, but I
cannot help regretting that he has thought it necessary to refrain taking any
active step to advance the cause during the first and most vital period of his
administration. A step taken after the Congressional elections next fall will
not count for one tenth as much as if it had been taken during the first year
of his administration.
We have come almost to a standstill with Mr. Bissell over certain cases
of postmasters, and I think the President will back him up. He has declined
to act on our suggestions, and we are now going over the whole thing again.
I am going to draw up my report with studied moderation and shall under-
state rather than overstate the facts; but if my colleagues will agree with me
I will make the language unequivocal, and will state that at least the same
1 Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, while superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic
Survey, had set a high standard for entrance to technical positions in his divisions.
After Logan Carlisle replaced his excellent staff with inefficient men he resigned.
388
measure should be meted to offending Democratic postmasters, whom I shall
specify by name, as is meted swiftly and ruthlessly to offending Republican
letter carriers by these same postmasters, and I shall also make an exposure
of the political rottenness at Lancaster. I fear Mr. Bissell is flinching. Faith-
fully yours
[Handwritten] P.S. I enclose a minute in reference to Carlisle which
explains itself. It is another of the innumerable instances in which he has
descended to mean, sneaking little acts of petty spoilsmongering.
Olney's decision that solicition for political purposes in a public building
is not illegal, is very unfortunate.
475 "TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Matthews M.SS.
Washington, June 29, 1894
Dear Brander: I think the cutting about Mahan's book was one of the most
delicious things I have ever read. It circulated freely throughout Washing-
ton, from Lodge on. Sometime or other I shall write an article on James
Stuart, the Hanoverian Pretender, or on the Duke of Cumberland, the well-
known Jacobin leader who fell at Culloden.
I am very glad the immigration has come to a standstill for the last year.
We are getting some very undesirable elements now, and I wish that a check
could be put to it.
I shall be ranching in September. Up to that time I shall alternate be-
tween Sagamore Hill and this hot city. I shall get back from the West early
in October and report at 121 promptly.
After receiving your letter I got Hamlin Garland's book and read it. I
think you are right about Garland, excepting that I should lay a little more
stress upon the extreme wrong-headedness of his reasoning. For instance, he
is entirely wrong in thinking that Shakespeare, Homer and Milton are not
permanent. Of course they are; and he is entirely in error in thinking that
Shakespeare is not read, in the aggregate, during a term of years, more than
any ephemeral author of the day. Of course every year there are dozens of
novels each one of which will have many more readers than Shakespeare
will have in the year; but the readers only stay for about a year or two,
whereas in Shakespeare's case they have lasted, and will last quite a time!
I think that his ignorance, crudity, and utter lack of cultivation make him
entirely unfit to understand the effect of the great masters of thought upon
the language and upon literature. Nevertheless, in his main thought, as you
say, he is entirely right. We must strike out for ourselves; we must work
according to our own ideas, and must free ourselves from the shackles of
conventionality, before we can do anything. As for the literary center of
the country being New York, I personally never had any patience with the
talk of a literary center. I don't care a rap whether it is New York, Chicago,
or any place else, so long as the work is done. I like or dislike pieces in the
389
Atlantic Monthly and the Overland Monthly because of what they contain,
not because of one's being published in San Francisco or the other in Boston.
I don't like Edgar Fawcett any more because he lives in New York, nor
Joel Chandler Harris any the less because he lives at Atlanta; and I read
Mark Twain with just as much delight, but with no more, whether he
resides in Connecticut or in Missouri. Garland is to me a rather irritating
man, because I can't help thinking he has the possibility of so much, and he
seems just to fail to realize this possibility. He has seen and drawn certain
phases of the western prairie life with astonishing truth and force; but he
now seems inclined to let certain crude theories warp his mind out of all
proper proportion, and I think his creative work is suffering much in con-
sequence. I hate to see this, because he ought to be a force on the right side.
By the way, have you seen that London Yellow Book? I think it repre-
sents the last stage of degradation. What a miserable little snob Henry
James is. His polished, pointless, uninteresting stories about the upper social
classes of England make one blush to think that he was once an American.
The rest of the book is simply diseased. I turned to a story of Kipling's with
the feeling of getting into fresh, healthy, out-of-doors life.
I think your vignettes are really admirable, and I am much pleased that
in your last you allowed a more cheerful ending than you sometimes do, and
that when the bullet struck the young lady it should have only made a flesh
wound in her arm. There is more than one particular in which that vignette
struck a high note. I think that Dan Wister has been doing some very good
work.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Matthews. Faithfully yours
476-TO CARL SCHTJRZ SchllTZ MSS.°
Oyster Bay, July 8, 1894
My dear Mr Schurz, I am here for a few days, and am then to go to Chau-
tauqua to lecture; as soon as I get back to Washington I'll write you in full;
I have written to have them send you the last Good Government, which is
the one containing the paragraph to which I referred. So far as I know not
a complaint was lodged against Mendenhall or his chief of division; in his
letter he simply resigned, but he told the President personally why he did
so — that Carlisles treatment of his office as spoils made his position intoler-
able. The particulars of his chief of division he himself told Procter and
myself. But he has declined to make a public statement until he leaves office,
chiefly, I think, because he fears that Carlisle would take advantage of a
public quarrel to insist on some man of his own being appointed. The Presi-
dent never seems willing to stand against Carlisle in these patronage matters.
If you think it wise you might wait until Mendenhall leaves his position and
390
is at liberty to speak; the papers have already given some hint of the quarrel.
Hitherto all Superintendants and the like have been filled by promotion;
we often decline to except a place, not to fill it by competitive examination,
but by promotion.
I will give you the report on the Postoffices as soon as I am at liberty.
Faithfully yours
477 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.Q
Oyster Bay, July 22, 1894
Darling Bye, You really can't think how interesting your letters are — even
/ read them with the utmost avidity. The last two, containing an account of
the court ball, we have read and re-read, the last time aloud to Corinne.
You have enjoyed exceptional opportunities, and you have taken advantage
of them to the utmost. I am very glad you are coming back, not only for
our sakes (and I would hate to have you away long enough to let the chil-
drens' memory of you grow at all dim) but because I think you ought to;
but after being here a couple of months or so, I should think it would be
worth your while to again return to Rosy's; worth while for his sake, and
for your own too. We shall probably be in Washington next winter, and
Corinne very possibly at Orange.
Douglas is recovering from his accident at polo; but poor Farr may find
his eyesight permanently impaired.
Little Kermit tends to be fretful and peevish under the strain; the poor
little fellow can not, of course, do what the other children do, and so he
has a pretty hard time and wears on Edith.
Springy is still here, but is a very unobtrusive guest; he is by no means
well, and passes almost all his time alone on the piazza.
I returned this morning from three days lecturing at Chatauqua; I rather
enjoyed it, as I was paid well, and the simple, earnest, healthy, narrow life
was interesting to see for a short time.
Politically we are here all at sea; the split in the Democratic ranks over
the tariff seems wider than ever. By the way Tom Reed has just delivered a
most flaming eulogium of me in the House, in response to an attack by one
of the Democrats. Of course this is a country of political cataclysms; but
at present everything looks like a Republican victory next fall. We have
come out of the strike very well; Cleavland did excellent, so did Olney, and
my friend Senator Davis of Minnesota best of all.1
What fools the Whites must be. Your loving brother
1 Senator Davis, in the face of opposition from his home state, supported the actions
taken by Cleveland and Olney in the Pullman strike. For a detailed analysis of
the strike and public reactions to it, see Nevins, Cleveland, ch. xxxiii; Selig Perlman,
A History of Trade Unionism in the United States (New York, 1929), pp. 137-139-
391
478 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS
Washington, July 29, 1894
Darling Bye, All the early part of the week I was at Sagamore. On Monday
I took blessed little Kermit in to see Dr. Schaeffer, who is yet unable to say
whether, as he hopes, the affair is one of the knee cap merely, or whether
it is in the bone itself, in which case the poor little fellow may have to wear
the instrument a couple of years. It tells on him, and makes him peevish.
Ethel, who is a perfect scamp, and as cunning as she can be, and who does
everything and manages everybody, has fearful fights with Kermit; they
celebrated my homecoming by a row in which Ethel bit him, and he then
stood on his head and thumped her with his steel leg. Alice and Ted have
been revelling in Corinnes children, with whom they are now devoted
friends. We have found a large hollow tree, the hollow starting from a
huge opening twenty feet up; the other day, with much labor I got up the
tree, and let each child in turn down the hollow by a rope. Ted is such a
blessing! he is very manly and very bright — but he is clumsy in spite of
his quickness. How impossible it is to tell how any of them will turn out!
Archie is such a wee, merry baby, and lies on his back on the bed waving his
little arms.
Corinne is so dear; and also Douglass. But I do wish Corinne could get
a little of my hard heart about Elliott; she can do, and ought to do, nothing
for him. He can't be helped, and he must simply be let go his own gait. He
is now laid up from a serious fall; while drunk he drove into a lamp post
and went out on his head. Poor fellow! if only he could have died instead of
Anna!
On Friday I left with Springy, who for four weeks has led the life of a
Sagamore Hill Trappist, and with Trent, the University of Sewanee man,
for whom I have much regard. I made an address in Philadelphia that eve-
ning, and came on to this sweltering place yesterday. I am now practically
living with the ever-delightful Caboty.
Darling Bye, I know how dreadfully you feel about dear Alice Lippen-
cott's death; I feel it much for myself too; I valued greatly her loyalty and
straightforward honesty. Your loving brother
479 • TO JOHN WILLIAM FOX FOX
Washington, August n, 1894
My Dear Mr. Fox: Being very busy, I have just had time to finish your story.
Now that it is done, I feel that I can congratulate you without reservation.
It is the best American story I have seen for years, and I firmly believe that
it has in it the element of permanence, and that it will last as a fixed addition
to our literature. It is excellent. I don't think the ending is at all too dramatic.
It was entirely unexpected to me. I was delighted you had it fixed just as
39*
you did! Wister is doing remarkable work, and if I can get hold of him I
am going to caution him on the very point you mention. His work is really
of such noteworthy quality that any carelessness, any slipshod business or
lack of truth, is all the more glaring. I wish the three of us could meet and
talk over various literary matters sometime. Faithfully yours
480-10 ANNA ROOSEVELT CoioleS MSS.°
Washington, August 12, 1894
Darling Bye, Another week has passed, and the tariff wrangle in the Demo-
cratic party still continues; but I think the end must come soon. Well, it has
been to my advantage, at any rate, for it has kept Cabot here, and I have
been virtually living at his house.
Every afternoon I have been playing tennis with funny, gruff old Olney.
Cabot and I breakfast together, and dine together, alone, or with some
congressman; Tom Reed, or Dolliver of Iowa,1 who has suddenly developed
a distinct literary sense, or Quigg, who always shakes his head mournfully
over the fact that, together with my many admirable qualities I also possess
such a variety of indiscretions, fads and animosities that it is impossible to
run me for Mayor. To which I answer him that I have run once!
It has been cool and pleasant. Once or twice we have dined at the Hitts.
Procter is a great comfort to me in my work.
I am very homesick for Edith and the children. Edie has been very much
worried about poor little Kermit, all the time; it is heartbreaking to see the
poor little fellow sitting still and looking at the other children pky.
Elliott is up and about again; and I hear is already drinking heavily;
if so he must break down soon. It has been as hideous a tragedy all through
as one often sees.
I fear I shall be in the west when you arrive; I suppose I can not send
you more than a couple of letters more.
Give my love to Rosy and little Helen. Your loving brother
481 -TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
Personal Washington, August 14, 1894
Dear Mr. Swift: The Post Office Department has again and again pleaded
press of work and failed to give us the information you asked for about the
Indiana post offices, so at last I started to find out myself. Accordingly we
have written to each office, and have started to try to collect and tabulate
the information. As soon as we get it I will give it to you. We have had a
great deal of difficulty with some of the Indiana offices.
1 Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver, Iowa Republican congressman, 1880-1900, senator, 1000-
1910, renowned for his oratorical powers. Originally a conservative, Dolliver be-
came a leader of the insurgency in the Senate during Roosevelt's presidency.
393
I feel a little disheartened at times here. We don't seem to make much
headway in the actual administration of the law. On the whole it is admin-
istered fairly well, but there are gross exceptions, and both under this admin-
istration and under the last it has proved almost impossible to get a Cabinet
officer to really stand up and punish men when they violate the law. Post-
master General Bissell has reissued Cleveland's order about officeholders
taking part in politics. We immediately called his attention to the way the
postmasters were taking part in the conventions in both Michigan and Ver-
mont, but he didn't do anything. Personally I would a great deal rather he
hadn't reissued the order than have him issue it and allow it to be violated
with impunity. To do the latter allows discredit to be cast upon the whole
system.
In making the reductions here in the War Department and in the Interior
Department they have discriminated a great deal because of politics, and
still more because of color. In the War Department they have turned out
about two-thirds of the young colored men who came in through our exam-
inations during the past three or four years. Some of those they have kept
are very bad, and some of those they have turned out were the best in the
service, as I am credibly informed. A man who was formerly on our force,
himself a Democrat, who was transferred to the Pension Bureau, told me in
confidence the other day that as regards promotions, reductions and dis-
missals for political reasons the Bureau was actually now in much worse
shape than under Raum.
Carlisle's conduct toward Mendenhall has been infamous, and he has
behaved with both the classified and unclassified service in a way worthy of
Wanamaker at his worst.
Is there not some chance of your coming on to an annual civil service
dinner of some kind this fall? I should like to see you and I should like to
have you present at a dinner when I state, not for publication, but just to
the Civil Service Reform Association for its own benefit, exactly how the
case stands.
Proctor is a trump. He is as admirable a man for Civil Service Commis-
sioner as could have been chosen. Faithfully yours
482 • TO ARTHUR PUE GORMAN
Washington, August 21, 1894
Sir: In the Congressional Record for August 17 last you appear as stating
in reference to the passage of the concurrent resolution for printing copies
of the Tenth Report of the Commission as follows:
"The resolution had been lying in the Senate for some days, when the presi-
dent of the Civil Service Commission called here ten days or two weeks ago to
press its passage, and not finding it passed, the Commission, as has been usual with
it, furnished to the public malicious and slanderous statements about the delay for
the purpose, I take it, of creating a false impression in the country."
394
The Commission respectfully points out that six months had elapsed since
the resolution was presented to your committee, and that during that interval
a number of reports of other bureaus were authorized to be printed, while
the Commission had repeatedly requested attention to its report.
The Commission respectfully requests that you inform it in what news-
paper or newspapers and of what date any "malicious and slanderous" state-
ments about the delay appeared from the Commission. The Commission has
not directly or indirectly furnished any statement about the printing of this
report which was either malicious or slanderous, or which was calculated to
create, or possibly could create, "a false impression in the country," and as
you have evidently been misled the Commission requests that it may know
when and where such statements as you refer to appeared in the public
journals. Very respectfitlly
483 •TO MRS. LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Sivift MSS.
Washington, August 21, 1894
My Dear Mrs. Swift: I was so glad to receive your note. I am very glad
your husband is in Switzerland, and I am very sorry you are not there too,
for I know you would like it.
I have become absolutely indignant with the tariff reform civil service
people. Take the case of Aikin,1 for instance. He belongs to the Evening
Post group, which is so extremely severe upon public men who deviate in
any way from what they ought to be. Now, the public men have great
temptations. They are always obliged to compromise in order to do any-
thing at all; but a man who is not in politics has no excuse whatsoever for
failing to do his duty as regards so simple a thing as telling the truth about
a bit of jobbery.
I wish you would smash into David A. Wells.2 Postmaster General Bis-
sell told me that David A. Wells and Clifton Breckinridge8 were more per-
sistent in their demands for patronage than any other two men he had met,
in or out of Congress. Wells has claimed to handle all the patronage for his
Congressional district in Connecticut.
I wish you would show up the Norwich case. You need not allude to
Aikin, but you can show up Wells. Wells has had the entire control of the
aW. A. Aikin, civil service reformer from Norwich, Connecticut.
"David Ames Wells, defeated Democratic congressional candidate from Norwich,
Connecticut, was a well-known economist of die laissez-faire school, an authority
on taxation, and an advocate of tariff reform. Through his influence, Postmaster
Caruthers of Norwich, an able public servant and wounded Union veteran, was
removed.
'Clifton Rodes Breckinridge, Democratic congressman from Arkansas, 1883-1804;
kter minister to Russia, 1894-1897. Breckinridge had resigned his seat on August
14.
395
post offices in his district, and he has handled them in a way that would have
delighted the hearts of Senators Murphy4 and Hill.
I have purposely refrained under the present administration from making
fights which I should have made under the last, because there continually
come up cases which I would be willing to take up with ferocity were the
offenders of my own party, but where I fear I can do no good as they are
not. However, Proctor, who is a most admirable man, is growing more and
more into his position. He was good to begin with and he is growing better
steadily, and he will soon be doing plenty of fighting on his own account.
To speak frankly, Mrs. Swift, I don't know that anyone will be fool enough
to do as much fighting as I have done. If everything goes well with me I
shall stay on the Commission a year or eighteen months longer; certainly
no longer; but I am most anxious to see the Commission in good hands when
I leave. The entire Cabinet are now down on me, including Bissell and
Lamont5 as well as Olney, and they have been hostile to Proctor on the
ground that they thought he was dominated by me. Of course he is not.
It is merely that a Civil Service Commissioner who is going to do his whole
duty will naturally agree with another Commissioner who feels the same
way. I pointed out to them that General Johnston was the type of man they
apparently wished; and whom I could not agree with, and with whom I
could not work at all, nor have any terms with, save those of open warfare.
The Boston association reformers have acted scandalously. They have
condoned the President's outrageous purchase of votes with patronage to
try to help the tariff reform bill through, and precious little they have gotten
out of it. The Commission undoubtedly has received very much less backing
in its assaults on wrongdoing under Cleveland from die civil service re-
formers than they gave it for the assaults for wrongdoing under Harrison.
Carlisle has done quite as badly as Wanamaker. The civil service reformers
will blame him in a perfunctory way when the Commission locks horns with
him, but they don't begin to do so with the emphasis or to call attention to
it as they did when Wanamaker was the offender. There are two or three
fights which I hope to bring to a head in the course of the next fortnight,
before going off in September on my ranch, but I don't know whether they
will be published until after I come home.
I cannot express how much I appreciate the consistency in attacking evil
wherever found, shown by the Civil Service Chronicle. As you know, I am
a party man, and my views of what I think I could accomplish and of the
way I should accomplish it generally have been set forth recently in the
articles I wrote to the Forum and to the Atlantic; but when I am enforcing
'Edward Murphy, Democratic senator from New York, 1893-1899.
'Daniel Scott Lamont, able lieutenant of prominent financiers and leading New
York Democratic politicians. Private secretary to Cleveland during his first ad-
ministration, Lament's political acumen and administrative ability earned him the
post of Secretary of War in Cleveland's second term of office. Returning to private
life in 1897, he enjoyed a profitable, friendly business relationship with James J. Hill.
396
the law I not only don't think, but I am incapable of thinking, of party one
way or the other. I could not any more do it than if I were on a jury I
could think about whether a criminal was a Democrat or Republican.
The meetings to which I referred were simply generally, to know what
meeting I should have a chance of seeing either of you at. When is the
regular League meeting to be held in Chicago? I would like to see you and
Mr. Swift and give you at length exactly what has been done here in Wash-
ington. Faithfully yours
484 • TO MRS. LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift AfSS.
Washington, August 27, 1894
My dear Mrs. Sivift: I do not know what to suggest to you about Mr. Wells,
but as regards his having control of the patronage of his district, that is a
matter of open notoriety here in Washington, and while I do not like to be
quoted publicly, I would not have any objection to your quoting me pri-
vately in saying that the Postmaster General told me so himself. I have
always expected that the tariff reform mugwumps would feel bitter toward
the Chronicle for its impartiality. Personally, I never object to severity, if
it is only impartial — if the scales are held equally against the two parties.
I am perfectly disgusted with the way that some loud-mouthed reformers
have glossed over the shortcomings of this Administration. Carlisle is an
absolute (enigma) curse; he and his son together are worse than Wanamaker.
It is impossible to have any law faithfully executed while a man like Logan
Carlisle is allowed to run riot through the departments. A strong set should
be made against him. I do not myself believe in never doing anything but
blame; but, above all, the praise & blame should be impartial. There should
be nothing partisan in it. Even if you change and take up prevention of
cruelty to animals, I think you will not get me, for that has always been one
of my hobbies. I never could tolerate or see a cat or any helpless thing being
tortured, for instance, and have had more than one rough and tumble fight
in consequence in my youthful days; but if you mean hunting, I am wedded
to that, I fear!
With regards, I am Faithfully yours
485 • TO CORINNE ROOSEVELT ROBINSON Robinson MSS.°
Washington, August 29, 1894
My darling little sister -, My thoughts keep hovering round you now, and I
love you so. There is one great comfort I already feel; I only need to have
pleasant thoughts of Elliott now. He is just the gallant, generous, manly boy
and young man whom everyone loved. I can think of him when you and
I and he used to go round "exploring" the hotels, the time we were first in
Europe; do you remember how we used to do it? and then in the days of
397
the dancing class, when he was distinctly the polished man-of-the-world
from outside, and all the girls, from Helen White and Fanny Dana to May
Wigham used to be so flattered by any attentions from him. Or when we
were off on his little sailing boat for a two or three days trip on the Sound;
or when he first hunted; and when he visited me at Harvard.
I enclose Uncle Jimmie Bulloch's letter — rather solemn and turgid —
because I think he would like me to.
Give my love to all. Your loving brother
486 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE "Printed,'*-
Oyster Bay, September 2, 1894
Dear Cabot, I directed the Star containing my interview to be sent to you;
it was given to the United Press too. I saw an extract of it which rather
angered me because it made me couple Senator Cockerell with you; I had
merely brought him in by saying that he too should receive credit, being
chairman of the sub-committee to which the amendment was referred. I
started the interview with a flourish for you! 2
The Lancaster P. O. case flatted out, as I was sure it would after I had
found that Brosius3 was weakening; and moreover the other side was about
as bad as the postmaster.
I finished all the odds and ends of work at Washington, and on Thursday
start for the west; I shall return about the first of October.
The drift is all our way! The Democratic congressional committee is
still hopelessly at odds as to whether they must make the campaign for or
against the Gorman bill. But I wish I felt a little surer of our carrying the
next house. I think we shall get it by a narrow margin; but I am far from
sure. We shall gain but three or four seats in the south, while in the Rocky
Mountain States, the Dakotas, etc., the revolt against die Democrats, while
it will utterly destroy them, may result merely in the election of populists.
This would leave us only the northeast and middle west, and we will have
to carry these overwhelmingly to win without assistance elsewhere.
I read the close of an article by Edward Atkinson in The Forum, assail-
ing our regular army as useless; and this less than two months after the Chi-
1 Lodge, I, 132-133.
*The amendment to an appropriations bill, introduced by Lodge, provided $52,000
as salaries for thirty-six clerks for the Civil Service Commission. Heretofore the
commission had to rely for clerical service upon temporary contributions from
other departments. Lodge, supported by Francis Marion Cockrell of Missouri,
obtained acceptance of this important amendment that had for long been opposed
in Congress. Roosevelt, in his review in the Star, welcomed the change with appro-
priate enthusiasm.
8 Marriott Brosius, Republican congressman from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
1889-1901.
398
cago strike. I must go for that prattling creature soon; I mean just to dress
him down incidentally in the course of an article.4
I send you back the Kidd;5 I wrote a very voluminous review of him
when I once got started. Springy was very nice in Washington during the
last fortnight I was there.
Edith sends you her love; give mine to Nannie and the boys — also Con-
stance if she is at hand. The children seem all right; Kermit seems to be
rather on the mend. Yours always
487 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, September 30, 1894
Dear Cabot, I spent only two weeks at the ranch. The cattle are not doing
particularly well; the drought has been very severe on everything. How-
ever, except for feeling a little blue, I passed a delightful fortnight, all the
time in the open; and feel as rugged as a bull moose. Tell Bay I shot five
antelope — only one a doe — and a fine white tail buck, too.
Is it true that Barrett was nominated? Bourke Cockran2 told me so. I
hope not. I came on from Chicago with Clarence King.
I believe we will whip Hill readily; but he was the strongest man they
could nominate. It will be a great misfortune if he wins; but I don't think
he can. I hear all around that the working men intend to vote "for the policy
of a full dinner pail," as one of them in the village told my friend and coach-
man, Hall. It looks as if Quigg might be run for Mayor; he will have some
great elements of strength, but I don't know whether we can get him taken
seriously enough.
West of the Mississippi the populists will give us trouble; but I think
you are right about our carrying the next house; what I have seen in the
west and east and heard from the south makes me feel so.
Edith sends you both her best love; tell Nannie I have something deli-
cious to tell her when we meet. Yours always
* Edward Atkinson, industrialist, economist, one of the founders of the Boston Man-
ufacturers Mutual Insurance Company, the author of many published works on eco-
nomics, was also a prominent pacifist and anti-imperialist.
"Benjamin Kidd, Social Evolution (New York, 1894), reviewed by Theodore Roo-
sevelt in the North American Review, 161:94-109 (July 1895). Of this book Roo-
sevelt remarked in his notice that it was "a very crude book," appealing to the
"half-baked." The author suggested 'lines of thought worth following — though
rarely to his conclusions."
1 Lodge, I, 134.
•William Bourke Cockran, Democratic congressman from New York, 1887-1889,
1891-1895, 1904-1909. He was celebrated for his grandiloquence.
399
488 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, October 8, 1894
Dear Cabot, I enclose Hayes' letter, as you may like to see it. Personally I
think no good can be done with such a movement as the A.P.A. About Nov.
8th I have to perform one of my usual dreary feats by speaking one evening
at Groton and one at Harvard, the latter on Civil Service Reform; it will be
a flying visit, and my speeches being in the evening I can't get down to
Nahant; but can't you get up to Boston for lunch one day? and I'd like to
see Hayes.
I go to Washington tomorrow, and Edith and Bamie take the children
to Vermont for a fortnight.
In politics, it does seem to me that we shall beat Hill this time; all the
signs are that way; and my only uneasiness is that Hill's strength has always
laid in those bottom strata about which we really know so very little. Austin
Wadsworth I find has somewhat the same uneasiness; I met him the other
day. Morton is a perfectly good candidate, but has no personal strength
whatever before the people; he will merely get the party vote, plus the
"reform" element which is against Hill, and that all-important class of un-
known size — the determining element in the problem — the man with the
dinner pail who wants to down the Democratic party. We have a fair chance
of carrying our Mayor, unless the Democrats unite on a strong man.2 When
we meet I'll tell you my own experience in the mayoralty matter; I simply
had not the funds to run. Yours
489 • TO LUCIUS BURREE SWIFT Swift M.SS.
Washington, October 10, 1894
Dear Mr. Swift: I reinclose Mr. Wells's letter.1 Postmaster General Bissell
told me, substantially in these words, in speaking of the fact that some men
whom he had thought to be reformers turned out to be quite as sharp after
patronage as the professional politicians, that "two of the men who had
1 Lodge, I, 135-136.
* William Lafayette Strong, a successful merchant with little political experience,
had^been nominated for mayor by the Committee of Seventy. The committee was
an independent organization formed, after the revelations of the Lexow investi-
gation, to combat die corrupt influences in the municipal government. After some
hesitation Platt gave the Republican nomination also to Strong. He hoped by this
move to strengthen the state ticket in New York City. Tammany selected Nathan
Straus, a regular Democrat of good reputation, but Straus, distrustful of his sponsors,
withdrew. The Democrats substituted Hugh J. Grant. Strong won the election and
held office from 1895 to 1897.
1 Wells had written Swift, denying that he was in any way responsible for the
removal of Caruthers and insisting that Swift publish his denial. Swift published
the letter but did not retract the accusation. - The Civil Service Chronicle, 2: 168-160
(October 1894).
400
bothered him most were Clif. Breckinridge and David A. Wells." Mr. Bissell
imposed no injunctions of secrecy upon me when he made this statement,
and I have quoted it to several people. I do not suppose I should be at lib-
erty to publish it, but in any event I am going to go to the Department
today to find out if I can get anything definite there that can be published.
I will then write you at once. Sincerely yours
48 9 A • TO MADISON GRANT R.M.A. MSS.
Washington, October 10, 1894
My Dear Grant: I have just got back from my ranch, where I was able to
get some days' hunting, killing five antelope and a white-tail buck.
I wish you would send the photographs to Grinnell.
I shall be in New York toward the end of November and should then
be delighted to dine with you. Don't you think we could get a dinner of
half a dozen of us interested in the same thing,1 say you and I and Grinnell
and Evarts, young Bristow and Aleck Lambert?2 We could talk much bet-
ter than we can at one of the big Club dinners.
I haven't heard from Chanler8 when he is coming back to this country.
He made a flying visit here last June, and his experiences, as he related them,
were most interesting. He is a fine fellow.
I will let you know as soon as I find out definitely when I will be in New
York. Very sincerely yours
490 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, October n, 1894
Dear Cabot: It is awfully good of you to send me the clippings containing
the account of the convention. I think the platform admirable. I wish we
had as good a one here in New York. We may possibly be hurt a little by
the fact that our men were timid about taking any action one way or the
other that would seem to recognize the trouble caused by the A.PA. Your
two planks, the school plank and the one following, are simply admirable.
The result will be that die A. P. A.'s won't cut any figure at aU. You were
indeed received as usual, and as I have always seen you received at every
meeting I have been to in Massachusetts. The Barrett business can't hurt you
1 Grant, Grinnell, and Roosevelt were at this time making their plans for the estab-
lishment of the Bronx Zoological Garden.
'Alexander Lambert, physician; professor of clinical medicine at Cornell Medical
College; assistant bacteriologist, New York Health Department; family doctor and
and lifelong friend of the Roosevelts.
8 William Astor Chanler, brother of Winthrop Chanler; explorer, author, and Dem-
ocratic congressman from New York, 1899-1901.
1 Lodge, I, 136-137.
4OI
personally one ounce. I like your speech greatly, and I like Senator Hoar's
greatly.
I have seen Storer since coming back here. He takes his defeat very well.
Of course he minds it much. He is just as sweet and good as ever.
In New York I have great hopes, not only for the governorship, but that
we shall put a Republican in as mayor. I don't however, regard it as the
certainty that some people do. Morton does not arouse any enthusiasm, and
it is curious to see how bitter the anti-Platt feeling is. It is not so much any-
thing that Platt does, but the fact that he is unwise enough to say things
attacking reformers, and making a show of bossism, which sets many people
against him. The professional reformers in the city are loudest against him,
but they are not really the ones that hurt. It is the farmers in the country
and the men in the small cities, who have a vague idea that they want to be
against him because he is a boss, and who have a queer distrust of the ma-
chine, so often irrational, which is, I am inclined to think, a real marked
attribute of the Republican party. Hill will have much more money than
Morton, while Morton will have the name of having more money than Hill,
and this is against us. Moreover Platt is no organizer of victory at the polls,
while Hill's machine work will be done to perfection, and he has a real pull
on the worst elements in our party. Nevertheless, there is a very decided
bolt against him among the best people of his own party, and what is in-
finitely more important, the drift is unmistakably our way. He has to swim
against a tidal wave, not with it, this time. I think we shall down him, but I
am not so dead sure as I would like to be.
Strong, our candidate for mayor, is a good man, and Tammany is weak.
On the other hand Tammany has also nominated a good man, and a great
many Democrats will support him against a man who, like Strong, is a good
fellow, but one of whom they know nothing in connection with public life.
If I get on to Boston on the pth to speak at Harvard I do hope you can
get into town and I can see you. Always yours
491 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
Washington, October 12, 1894
My Dear Mr. Swift: I went over to the Post Office Department yesterday.
Mr. Bissell is away, but I saw Mr. Jones. I asked him if my recollection was
correct as to Mr. Bissell's statement about Breckinridge and Wells, and he
answered yes; that he could not give me now the exact facts in the matter,
and that of course he could not talk for publication, but that I had been
warranted in quoting him privately. He asked me not to get him into a con-
troversy with Wells, however. His statement was just about what I told
you, namely, that they had had great trouble with Wells in the matter of
certain appointments, which had finally ended almost in a quarrel through
Wells insisting upon a certain appointment which they did not make. I do
402
not suppose that anything could be proven in the case, as both Bissell and
Jones are evidently anxious not to have a controversy, and I think rather
regret that they told me anything about it. I see that Wells said he never
asked for the appointment of his son1 as secretary at the English Embassy.
I dare say this is true, but it is equally true that the boy would never have
been appointed except because he was Wells' son, and to gratify the father.
I am informed by the people at the Embassy (but of course again not for
publication) that he is a good young fellow, a graduate of Harvard, who
wants to go on the stage either as playwright or actor, and who has not the
least taste for or training in diplomatic work, and whose appointment would
never have been dreamed of if the appointments were given because of the
men's fitness for the work.
I shall send you shortly the tabulated statement for the Indiana post
offices. I am very glad you asked for it, as it has been most useful. In some
of the offices, notably at Columbus, Evansville, Dogansport and La Porte,
there have been very nearly clean sweeps. Taken as a whole the showing is
certainly bad. In Indianapolis it is good, however. In all but one office the
postmasters have been changed since the incoming of the present adminis-
tration, and over half of the carriers and clerks in nonexcepted places have
been turned out. The average would be much greater if it were not for the
good showing at Indianapolis. I have written to all of the offices in which
the showing is particularly bad, requesting a detailed and specific statement
as to the reasons for the removal of the different persons, and I intend to
stir them up well on it. Faithfully yours
[Handwritten] How I wish I was out of this office for a short while,
just long enough to say publicly about a dozen things I much wish to say.
492 • TO T. T. HUDSON Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, October 12, 1894
Dear Sir: I am much obliged to you for having written me. I feel as strongly
against the A.P.A. as you can. I have openly attacked and denounced it, and
recently removed a man from the position of secretary of one of our local
boards because he pasted on his desk where applicants could see them slips
of paper containing A.P.A. and anti-Catholic songs and utterances. But I
could certainly not offhand agree that a man should be removed from the
public service merely because he was an A.P.A. man any more than I could
agree offhand that he should be removed from the public service if he
belonged to a similar Catholic Society or order. If any person in the office
acts improperly toward the postmaster, or in any way fails to do his duty
to the Government and to the public, he should of course be removed, with-
out regard to whether he is a Protestant or a Catholic, or is or is not a mem-
1 David Dwight Wells, second secretary at the United States Embassy in Lon-
don, 1894-1896, contributor to many magazines; author of Her Ladyship's Elephant.
403
ber of a secret association, but of course the postmaster ought to be certain
that the man really is guilty of the conduct of which he is suspected before
making the removal. I am sorry I cannot answer you in more specific terms.
Very truly yours
493 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT S'wift Mss.
Washington, October 13, 1894
Dear Mr. S'wift: I hope you have received by this time all the letters and
the explanation of why they were not sent before. I am rather astonished at
Wells' letter, in view of what Aikin says, of what Bissell and Jones told me,
and of the appointment of his son at the Embassy. I would very gladly let
you publish my name in the matter if it were not for Bissell and Jones refus-
ing me their permission, and of course what I know comes simply from
them. Don't you think that if you got some civil service reformer to come
here and ask Bissell and Jones they might tell him what they told me? All
I am afraid of is that Wells will write to them and make them close up. I
am a good deal irritated that Bissell and Jones won't let me speak out. I sup-
pose they can't very well afford to, at any rate not until after the election.
I can't get the authority from Bissell and Jones to speak openly; but at any
rate I gladly give you the authority to mention the thing, but not for publi-
cation, to any of our civil service friends especially Foulke. I would like to
tell it in person to Wells himself if we can get him before us, but I don't
care to 'write him about it. Can't we get him to a C. S. dinner, with Aikin?
I do wish we could get him at a meeting where Aikin and I would be there.
I would be only too delighted to give him my information face to face, and
see what he would say. Bissell is rather flabby, however, and if Wells pushes
him I am afraid of Bissell's weakening.
I return the letters. Very sincerely yours
[Handwritten] P. S Jones & Maxwell tell me that Mr. Wells recommen-
dation and advice were verbal, not in writing, and therefore not on file.
494 • TO JOHN JOSEPH KEANE
Washington, October 15, 1894
My Dear Bishop Keane: On Sunday morning Mrs. Storer showed me your
letter to her in which you state that you had received the facts from Mr.
Gardiner, the secretary of the Democratic committee. I went this morning
up to the Republican committee rooms and saw Mr. McKee. He informs
me in the strongest and unequivocal language that there is not one word of
truth in Mr. Gardiner's assertions, and that the Republican committee has
not in any shape, way, or fashion helped in the circulation of A.P.A. docu-
ments. Moreover, he informs me that as a matter of fact no A.PA. people,
or people with A.P.A. proclivities, have asked him for such documents, and
that such requests that have come to him have always come from Democratic
decoys; one, who he has every reason to believe was sent by Senator Gor-
man, doing his best to lure one of the subordinates of the committee into
compromising himself in some manner. Moreover, the Republican commit-
tee is, as a matter of fact, extending precisely the same help to Republican
candidates who are Catholics, of whom there are several, as it is to Republi-
can candidates who are Protestants; and its actions are supervised by the
National committee, one of whose members at least, Mr. Kerens of Missouri,
is a Catholic.
Now, my dear sir, I am sure I need not tell you that I am as heartily
opposed to the A.P.A. or to anybody that seeks to attack a man politically
because of his creed, or to bring questions of religion into American politics,
as anyone can possibly be. If die Republican committee has been doing this
I will do my best to see it stopped, and if it is not stopped will publicly
denounce it. On the other hand, it is infamous to accuse a committee of
doing anything of this kind if it has not done it, and Mr. Gardiner is bound
immediately to produce proof of his assertion, or else to retract it in the
most public manner and to express his regret at what he has done. I will be
delighted to go up to the Republican committee rooms with you and with
any witnesses whom Mr. Gardiner has or can produce and to confront the
Republican committeemen with them in your presence.
As you know, I am a straightout adherent of our nonsectarian public
school system. I have always opposed any division of the school fund or any
compromise whatever about the school system, and I am against the system
of appropriations for sectarian institutions of any kind wherever it is pos-
sible for the State to do the work it has undertaken; but when I use the words
"nonsectarian" I mean them. I don't mean that I will stand up for Protestant
against Catholic, any more than for Catholic against Protestant; and I feel
just the same indignation at any discrimination, political or otherwise, against
a Catholic, because of his religion, that I feel if a Protestant is discriminated
against for similar reasons; and I should pay no heed to party considerations
in denouncing any man or body of men who thus in a political contest dis-
criminated against Catholics or against Protestants. Similarly, if a man tries
to use this feeling for party purposes, and tries to excite it by false accusa-
tions for momentary partisan gain, he, it seems to me, is acting as badly as
it is possible for anyone to act. I therefore beg you that you will get Mr.
Gardiner to produce his witness so that we may find out where the truth
lies. Very faithfully yours
495 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
Washington, October 16, 1894
Dear Cabot: I don't like to be over sanguine, and I have been trying hard to
keep in mind what an able organizer Hill is, what a personal hold he has in
1 Lodge, I, 138.
the lower ranks, and what a resolute fight he is making, but I can't help
getting more and more sanguine as the days go by. The stars in their courses
fight for us. I regard Tammany's nomination for mayor as weak.2 I believe
that we will elect Morton, and I am actually inclined to think we will elect
Strong too, as mayor. I should not be a bit surprised if we gave a tremendous
majority. I have just seen McKee of the Congressional Committee. He has
hopes of carrying the next House by a narrow margin, but he feels disturbed
over the far western States. Of course we wish to have a majority of the
States in the next House. McKee thinks we can get it if we can get some
kind of help financially from the East for these Western States where they
are down in absolute penury. One of our men who has just come back from
a tour there tells me he doesn't think anything can save the Republicans. He
believes Wake3 will capture Colorado and the Populists overwhelm every-
thing out there. I am inclined to think the latter view is probably true. Still
McKee is hopeful, but he does need money. Do you think any of your Bos-
ton people, as this is a year you will have very little expense for your own
state, will be able to help those Westerners out?
I come on to Groton on November 8th — Thursday. On Friday the pth
I shall be in Boston. Can't we arrange to meet then?
Give my best love to Nannie. Yours always
496 • TO LUCIUS BURRDE SWIFT S'Wift MSS.
Washington, October 20, 1894
My dear Mr. Swift: Postmaster General Bissell came back yesterday. I saw
him at once about the David A. Wells matter. To my delight he put the
case even more strongly than I had remembered. He told me that Mr. Wells
had quarrelled with him over an appointment, and that he, (Mr. Wells) said
practically in so many words that he considered that he was entitled to be
consulted about the disposal of the patronage throughout his congressional
district, because it was owing to his running for Congress that the Demo-
cratic party had been built up in that district. He also told me (this I do not
think you had better use) that Wells at the time told him that he could
arrange things all right with the Evening Post people if Mr. Bissell wanted
some given thing done. As for the first remark, I really now see no reason
why you should not tell Foulke, or anyone else who questions your author-
ity, as to where you got it. I do not think you ought to quote it publicly,
but I should be delighted to meet Mr. Wells in your presence and state to
him exactly what Mr. Bissell had told me. Sincerely yours
8 Hugh J. Grant, Democratic mayor of New York City, 1889-1893, again Tammany's
candidate for that office in 1894.
'Davis Hanson Waite, aging, obstinate, Republican editor turned Populist, Gov-
ernor of Colorado, 1893-1894.
406
497 * TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift Mss.
Washington, October 22, 1894
Dear Mr. Swift: Herewith I send you the table of the Indiana post offices.
It contains so much information that we shall use it in our report, which we
will make in mid-November, so pray do not print it until that report comes
out. The table itself, however, will only be printed in the body of the report,
and though we will submit it to the President it won't go to the press, and
you will therefore have the exclusive first publication of it. This information
is what we have obtained from the post offices themselves, and it is therefore
only approximately accurate, and doubtless gives the very best showing for
them that can be given. There are certainly some seeming errors in it. At
Evansville the unclassified places are those, as a rule, of stamp agents ($24.00
a year), who are clerks in drug stores and are never changed. The Indianap-
olis post office is being handled well. If it were not for that the average
would be far lower. Moreover, as you will see by the dates of appointment,
some of the postmasters have been in a very short time, and have not had a
chance to make changes. The general showing for those who have been in
eighteen months or so is bad. This is notably the case at Fort Wayne,
Logansport, Evansville, La Porte, and some of the other offices, to which
we have written for specific explanations. Yours truly
498 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Washington, October 22, 1894
Darling Bye, It has been the greatest pleasure to me to think of blessed
Edie and the bunnies up with you in the high, clear air of Vermont; they —
and especially Edith — needed the change.
Here, I have had much work, of the ordinary kind, in connection with
the Civil Service Commission; in the evenings there is of course little to do.
I made a mistake in not trying my luck in the mayoralty race. The prize
was very great; the expense would have been trivial; and the chances of suc-
cess were good. I would have run better than Strong; yet Strong has an even
chance of beating Grant. But it is hard to decide when one has the interests
of a wife and children to consider first; and now it is over, and it is best not
to talk of it; above all, no outsider should know that I think my decision was
a mistake.
I have written to darling Pussie. The Sherman letters seemed to me un-
usually good. Your loving brother
499 • TO JOHN WILLIAM FOX FOX
Washington, October 23, 1894
My Dear Mr. Fox: I am delighted that you liked the Winning of the West.
In a few weeks my third volume will be out.
407
Now, as to your questions. I haven't got my authorities here, and I am
answering rather from memory than otherwise. First, as to the fighting, the
Scotch have always been rough-and-tumble fighters, and it has been one of
the most marked of the points of difference between them and the English,
who have for some centuries, certainly since the days of Queen Elizabeth,
fought regularly with their fists. Smallett mentions how the bystanders
would not allow his hero to smash and thump his antagonist when he was
down, as he would have done in Scotland. In Borrows delightful "Gypsy"
book Lavengro, he comments on this difference between the Scotch and
English schoolboys; fist-fighting, according to the English system being un-
known, while the Scotch boys scufHed, wrestled with, hit, and tore at, one
another.
Among the other habits of thought that I alluded to was the tendency to
a rigid Sabbath observance among those backwoodsmen who were religious
at all, this Sabbath being kept in the Scotch fashion, and the fact that the
backwoodsmen so invariably took to the Presbyterian religion, and not to
the English form of worship, until the Methodists and Baptists began to
make their way there. There were other habits but I should have to look
them up in the books now.
Now, about the feuds. I don't think that these were developed in the
way that the modern feuds are, but I think that the rudiments of the modern
feud system were very visible. Milfort, the Frenchman, who hated the back-
woodsmen, describes with horror their extreme malevolence and their mur-
derous disposition toward one another. He says that whether a wrong had
been done to a man personally or to his family, he would, if necessary, travel
a hundred miles and lurk round through the forests indefinitely to get a
chance to shoot his antagonist. He wrote just after the Revolution. By turn-
ing to the published accounts in Draper's Kings Mountain, and in the lives
of Shelby and William Campbell, you will see how the war between Whig
and Tory rendered immensely bitter the personal hostilities between the
different backwoodsmen; and it seems evident that many of these back-
woodsmen took sides in the contest according to their antipathy to one
another, rather than with reference to their real political feelings.
I wish I could answer you more fully. Faithfully yours
500 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, October 27, 1894
Dear Cabot: I thought SewalPs [speech] more than good. It fired my blood
to read it. I am not very keen about the tariff business myself, having, as
you know, a tinge of economic agnosticism in me, but our foreign policy is,
to me, of an importance which is difficult to overestimate. There is one
comfort about my not being in the mayoralty race this year. I could not
1 Lodge, I, 139-140.
408
talk against the Democracy on the subject on which I feel deepest, our for-
eign relations, while I was running for mayor. I am surprised all the time to
receive new proofs that every man even every Southerner who lives outside
the country, has gotten to have a perfect hatred and contempt for Cleve-
land's administration because of its base betrayal of our interests abroad. I
do wish our Republicans would go in avowedly to annex Hawaii and build
an oceanic canal with the money of Uncle Sam.
Harry Davis is just leaving. He was with me again the other day, and I
read him a couple of pages of an article I am trying to compose for The
Forwn, these pages having reference to Edward Atkinson. I have a large
vocabulary I should like to use on that person, and I have only used about
half. Harry, who is of a ferocious temperament, much approved of my
expressions. I shall show them to you to see if you think them too strong.
One of the mildest of them is a pet sentence in which I state that he com-
bines the imagination of a green grocer with the heart of a Bengalee baboo.
Always yours
P. S. — I am writing a note to the editor of the Atlantic about a piece by
Henry Childs Merwin2 in defence of Tammany, in which he says the Qvil
Service Law in the departments at Washington was under Harrison and is
now under Cleveland "a mere mockery," quoting Carlisle and you as au-
thorities. If not too much trouble send me what you really said, as I am going
to rap him.
501 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift MSS.
Washington, December 4, 1894
Dear Mr. Svxft: I reinclose the very interesting papers you sent. Evidently
the Post editorial was written by Wells. The Aikin letters do clearly show
that in his letter to the Chronicle he just steered clear of rocks on which he
would have foundered had he been entirely frank. I saw Carl Schurz in New
York and he mentioned the correspondence between Wells and yourself and
spoke most favorably of Wells, so I promptly told him what Bissell had told
me, and mentioned that I had informed you of it. It greatly surprised Schurz,
and I think completely changed his views. I think you can afford to let the
matter rest where it is. There is no use of daring him to a libel suit, though
I haven't the slightest idea that he would venture to go into one. Faithfully
yours
502 -TO JACOB AUGUST mis Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, December 4, 1894
My Dear Sir: Unfortunately I had to leave New York before being able
to get down to see you again. I am very sorry, and I shall hunt you up the
•Henry Childs Merwin, Boston lawyer, author of The Life of Aaron Burr (Boston,
1899), and Thomas Jefferson (Boston, 1901).
409
next time I come to New York. The reason I wished to see you especially
was that I want you to meet Mayor-elect Strong, or, rather, I want him to
meet you. It is very important to the city to have a businessman's mayor,
but it is more important to have a workingman's mayor, and I want Mr.
Strong to be the latter also. From you I feel he could get information such
as he could not get from anyone else about the condition of our schools and
about what can be done towards giving a better chance for respectability
and usefulness to the people in the crowded lower wards. I know hardly any-
one who has done more than you have to give people an intelligent apprecia-
tion of the great social problems of the day and who has approached these
problems with more common sense and sobriety, and I am very anxious that
the Mayor shall be put in communication with you. Faithfully yours
503 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Matthews M.SS.
Washington, December 7, 1894
Dear Grander: Being laid up in the house with a slight attack of bronchitis
I have just got your book. I feel a little ashamed of having you send it to
me; but there is one comfort when I receive books from you, and that is
that I have always read them before, and have always liked them. I feel
about your books like the traditional Kentuckian about whiskey; some of
them are better than others, but they are all good. I think the "Royal Ma-
rine," 1 however, one of the best of your stories.
By the way did you see Hamlin Garland's piece in the last Harper's
Weekly?2 It is very good, and is much less morbid than his pieces have
grown to be. It looks to me as though he were going to, in a somewhat dif-
ferent way, suffer as Howells has done, by taking a jaundiced view of life.
This is not an uncommon development of the reform spirit, unfortunately.
Even in this piece I am amused at one thing. He often predicates the unhap-
piness of people accustomed to entirely different surroundings from his
because he, or because cultivated men brought up in ease, would mind such
surroundings. I really doubt whether he has seen from the inside the life he
describes nearly as much as I have, and he certainly must mind it far more.
For instance, I have been a great deal in logging camps such as the one he
describes in this last article in Harper's, and I know that the men in them
regard a good logging camp as a first-rate place, very comfortable, very
warm, with an abundance of good food, and often pleasant company. I have
thoroughly enjoyed such camps myself. He speaks of the greasy quilts, etc.
Well, they are distressing to an overcivilized man; but for my own pleasure
this year wyhen I was out on the antelope plains I got into a country where
1 James Brander Matthews, "Royal Marine: an Idyl of Narragansett Pier," Harper's
Monthly, 89:577-592, 680-4594 (September, October 1894).
•Hamlin Garland, "Only a Lumber Jack," Harper's Weekly. 38:1158-1150 (De-
cember 8, 1894).
410
I didn't take my clothes off for ten days. I had two cowpunchers along,
and the quilts and bedding, including the pillows which they had, were
quite as bad as those Garland describes in his logging camp; yet they both
felt they were off on a holiday and having a lovely time. Our food on this
ten days' trip was precisely like that he describes in the logging camp, except
that we had venison instead of beef, and we ate it under less comfortable
surroundings as a whole, or at least under what my men regarded as less
comfortable surroundings. I have worked hard in cow camps for weeks at a
time, doing precisely such work as the cowpunchers, and I know what I
am talking about. I didn't play; I worked, while on my ranch. There is a
great deal of toil and hardship about the out-of-door life of lumbermen &
cowboys, and especially about some phases which he doesn't touch, such as
driving logs in the springtime and handling cattle from a line camp in bitter
winter weather; but the life as a whole is a decidedly healthy and attractive
one to men who do not feel the need of mental recreation and stimulus —
and few of them do.
However, this story of Garland's is a good one, and I am glad that he
should go back to writing good stories, and not try to evolve some little
school of literary philosophy, where the propriety of his purpose is marred
by the utter crudity of his half-baked ideas, and where he is not tempted to
group himself and one or two friends under some such absurd heading as
"veritists."
I shall see you in mid-January when I come on to New York. Meanwhile
I wish you would come on here.
504 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MottheWS MSS.°
Washington, December 9, 1894
Dear Brander, When you see your friend Kipling again tell him that the
"Walking Delegate" has been used as a tract in the Senate.1 Manderson,2 of
Nebraska, first saw it's possibilities. Do you know him? He has a most gallant
record in the Civil War, where he was badly wounded; and now has at last
overthrown the populists in his state, in a square knock-down-and-drag-out
fight, and is going to leave the Senate, as he finds he can't afford to stay in
politics. He tried the article on Peffer,8 who is a well-meaning, pin-headed,
anarchistic crank, of hirsute and slabsided aspect; it did'n't do Peffer any
good — he is'n't that kind — but it irritated him, and so it pleased Mander-
son. Wolcott of Colorado, whom you met here, is now going to try it on
1Rudyard Kipling, "The Walking Delegate," Century Magazine, 49:289-297 (De-
cember 1894), is die story of a rebellious gelding who tried, and failed, to organize
the other horses in a Vermont pasture.
9 Charles Frederick Manderson, Republican senator from Nebraska, 1889-1895.
'William Alfred Peffer, Populist senator from Kansas, 1891-1897.
411
Kyle of South Dakota.4 Lodge would like to use it, but he is anathema to
the populists anyhow, as he comes from Massachusetts and is a Harvard man
— a record that would taint anything.
I liked the article as in a way an anti-septic to Hamlin Garland's stories,
though it is no more fair than die latter; the truth lies between. I know the
populists and the laboring-men well, and their faults; I like to see a mob
handled by the regulars, or by good State guards, not over-scrupulous about
bloodshed; but I know the banker, merchant and railroad king well too, and
they also need education and sound chastisement. Hastily yours
505-10 HENRY CHILDS MERWIN RoOSCVelt
Washington, December 18, 1894
Dear Mr. Merwin: Many thanks for your letter. I am very glad you are
going to be here in March, when I shall have a chance to see you. Let me
know a few days in advance about your coming.
First, as to your letter proper, I most cordially agree with what you say.
I can't believe that we haven't got in Harvard as much natural athletic talent
as they have in Yale. During the last nine years our freshmen football teams,
baseball nines and crews have won a fair share of victories from the Yale
freshmen, while during the same time there have been but one winning nine,
one winning eleven and one winning eight from the University itself. Un-
questionably the evil development of Harvard is the snob, exactly as the evil
development of Yale is the cad; and upon my word of the two I think the
cad the least unhealthy, though perhaps the most objectionable person. The
trouble with the Bostonian professor is emphatically that he is out of touch
with nature. I am a man with no New England blood in me, yet I get on
better with and perhaps have more admiration for New Englanders than
for any other of our people; but the New Englander can't really "think
continentally," as Washington used to phrase it, until he has spent a good
deal of time west of the Mississippi.
I think President Eliot's attitude in some respects a very unfortunate one
for the College. His opposition to athletics and his efforts to Germanize the
methods of teaching work real harm. The main product we want to turn out
of our colleges is men. Incidentally let them be professors, chemists, writers,
anything you please, but let them be men first of all, and they can't be turned
out if we don't have the instructors themselves men, and not bloodless stu-
dents merely. All of this I want to talk over with you when we meet.
Now for your friend's letter.
i. The rule that after one year's service in an excepted place the holder
could be transferred to the classified service without competitive examina-
tion was a very bad one. The Commissioner has denounced it for the last
six years in the various annual reports which I have written, pointing out
* James Henderson Kyle, Independent senator from South Dakota, 1891-1901.
412
that this was a back door of entry to the service, and that only harm could
result from keeping it open. At last we succeeded in getting the President
to take our view and shut it. But your friend is entirely in error when he
thinks that "messengers, watchmen, sweepers, and cleaners of cuspidors"
could be promoted under this rule. Such men do not occupy excepted posi-
tions at all; they are in the unclassified service, and your friend in dealing
with these is thinking of an abuse abolished five years ago. When I came
into office I found that there was a provision allowing promotion of people
such as those mentioned from the unclassified to the classified service after
being two years in office. This opened a door to such gross abuses that we
got President Harrison to abolish it forthwith, so that not a single promotion
of "messenger, watchman, sweeper, or cleaner of cuspidors" has been made
for the last five years. The distinction is a very important one, because the
number of excepted positions is small, and the abuse therefore comparatively
small also; whereas the number of unclassified positions, including messen-
gers and the like, is very large. During the last four years in the departmental
service here at Washington there have been only thirty appointments made
in this way by transfer from excepted places, as against 1658 made from our
regular lists after competitive examination. Of these thirty appointments I
agree with your correspondent that the majority, although I should not say
as high a proportion as 90 per cent, were transferred mainly for political
reasons. It was a back door that we did our best to get closed, and finally
did get closed; but as you will see by the figures given above it was very far
from being as wide or as important as your friend supposed. Thus in the
last four years I don't think that it has resulted in what he calls a "practical
nullification" of the law in more than say about twenty of the thirty cases
which is a small per cent when we take the whole number of 1658 appoint-
ments.
2. In all probability there have been in the past instances of evasion of
the law by calling upon the Commission for eligibles from special lists, as
bookkeeper, French translator, German translator, etc., but about the only
instances to which I could actually point were in the Sixth Auditor's Office
during Mr. Cleveland's first administration, when, undoubtedly, the Sixth
Auditor, McConville, got friends of his from Ohio to take the bookkeeper
examination, and then made calls for bookkeepers. In the case of French
translator your informant is all wrong, for the instances of abuse in this,
instead of being common, must have been very rare. No person has been
appointed from this register in 1894. In 1893 there was but one appointment;
in 1892 but one, and in 1891 but one, out of some fifty applicants. When
there is such a large number of applicants of course only the persons stand-
ing at the very head can get appointments; and when there are in four years
but three appointments from a register which at any one time contains from
ten to fifty names there is hardly any chance of political favoritism being
shown. Moreover, these appointments were actually made from the heads
413
of the lists. Your informant is all wrong also in his supposition that French
is not actually used in the Departments aside from the Department of State.
It is continually used in the Bureau of Pensions, in the Statistical Bureau of
the Treasury, and in the Surgeon General's Office of the War Department;
and of recent years all our appointments from this register have been to these
three Departments. I think that it has been a number of years since any
person was appointed for political reasons from this French register. I think
however, although I could not prove it, that there was one such case where
a woman was appointed from Alabama from this French register early in
Harrison's administration on the recommendation of Senator Morgan,1
although Senator Morgan was a Democrat. Even in this case, however, I
doubt very much if Morgan did more than inform the Department that the
woman was thoroughly competent, and as it happened she was so competent
that she stood at the very head of the register there was no way of prevent-
ing the appointment. In another instance I think that a man was appointed
from the Scandinavian register simply to please a Scandinavian Congressman.
In probably fifty instances we have found out that there were eiforts of
this kind being made and have stopped them. ... As for the bookkeepers'
register now, almost all the people that stand high on it get chosen, precisely
as they do from the stenographers' register, and to an even greater extent
from the registers of special pension examiners and Patent Office examiners.
Unquestionably any man with political influence who can pass any one of
these four special examinations will have a first-rate chance of appointment,
simply because any man without political influence who passes them also
has a first-rate chance of appointment. In the past about nine-tenths of the
people who have passed the examinations for Patent Office examiner and
special pension examiner, and all of those who have passed the examination
for stenographer and typewriter, and fully three-fourths of those who have
passed the bookkeepers' examination, have received appointments. They re-
ceive these appointments quite regardless of whether they do or do not have
political influence, since the days of Mr. McConville, of whom I spoke, and
even when he was in office, though undoubtedly many of his friends from
Ohio took the examination and were appointed from it, all of the other
people who took it got their appointments also. We advertise the fact in our
circulars that there is a need of applicants for these various special registers,
and that the chances of appointment are good from them, because we find
it difficult to get men with the requisite capacity to pass them in sufficient
numbers to supply the needs of the service. Of course when this is the case
a politician who is shrewd enough to pass them and has the requisite capacity
gets a place, just exactly as if he wasn't a politician; but I think you will
1John Tyler Morgan, Democratic senator from Alabama, 1877-1907. A strong ex-
pansionist and ardent silverite, he is chiefly remembered for his tireless efforts in
behalf of an interoceanic canal through Nicaragua.
414
agree with me that under circumstances such as these the chance for fraud
is really infinitesimal.
One trouble is that always a certain number of the men who take the
examinations are men with political backing. Of these a large number fail,
and a large number who pass are never certified or appointed, as they stand
too low; but of the proportion that do get appointed a number think they
owe their appointments to political «influence», when as a matter of fact
they have simply been appointed right along in the order of their standing
precisely like the rest of their associates on the list. Thus, once, about three
years ago, Pennsylvania happened to be reached for a certification at a time
when there was a demand for female copyists, and the two highest copyists
on her list of a hundred names were appointed. To my intense amusement
this was soon followed by a visit from Senator Cameron of Pennsylvania to
know why we had made two appointments for Senator Quay and none for
any other member of the Pennsylvania delegation. I couldn't understand
what he meant at first, but diligent cross examination revealed the fact that
the two girls in question were school teachers of very unusual ability who
wanted to enter the Government service, and took it for granted from what
they had read in the newspapers that they had to have Senator Quay's influ-
ence with the Qvil Service Commission. They had accordingly written to
Senator Quay when they took the examination. Quay made the response, as
is usual with nineteen out of twenty politicians, that he would do the best
he could for them, and when they got their appointments they wrote thank-
ing him, and he answered that he was glad to have been of any service to
them. Of course as a matter of fact he hadn't even known when they were
certified or when they were appointed, and I pointed out to Cameron that
the other people in whom he was interested and in whom the other members
of the Pennsylvania delegation were interested simply hadn't passed high
enough, and that if they had they would have been certified. The good faith
of the Department in die matter was shown by the fact that they chose the
first and second of the four names submitted to them for the appointments;
but I doubt if I ever persuaded the other Pennsylvanians that something or
other had not been done for Quay, and it took them about three years, dur-
ing which time none of Quay's friends ever got within measurable distance
of the head of the register, before they led up to the fact that all of the other
people appointed from Pennsylvania, with the exception of these two, were
persons with whom none of the Congressional delegation were acquainted.
Of course in quoting my letter please don't quote this incident. Lodge was
acquainted with it at the time.
We have to have special registers for branches of the service in which
an unusually high degree of capacity is needed; but where few people take
tftese special examinations there is always an opportunity for a man of influ-
ence who has the high degree of technical ability necessary to enable him
415
to pass the examination to get an appointment, but, as I said above, I really
don't think that this is an evil of sufficient size to merit any attention. It is
perfectly true that bookkeepers, stenographers, etc., are often set to work
at other than their special work, but this is merely because in many offices,
while it is indispensable to have a man with bookkeeping knowledge or with
capacity to write shorthand, yet there isn't enough of this work to keep him
employed exclusively at it.
3. I believe that there have been rare instances in which the Appointing
officer has sought to discover, and has discovered, the politics of some of
the people on the certifications submitted to him, but I think this is very
rare, because in the first place, as a matter of fact the appointments are usu-
ally made within a couple of days and because all must be made within three
days, after the certification is sent up. It is an absolute impossibility for an
appointing officer within these three days to find out, save in wholly excep-
tional cases, the politics of men in States at all remote from Washington.
Until he receives the certification he hasn't the slightest idea from what
State the applicants come, so he finds himself with the names of three people
from a State which may be Texas, or may be Massachusetts, or Oregon, and
with only three days in which to find out about the three persons. It is pos-
sible that in some wholly exceptional instances he has found out, but I doubt
if it occurs once in five hundred times, and I am not sure that it occurs at
all. Moreover, we find as a matter of fact that in nineteen cases out of twenty,
or thereabouts, the men are appointed exactly in their order. Under the
law three out of every five men certified must be taken; but as a matter of
fact almost always four, and generally five, are taken, so that as you can see
the room for this kind of misconduct is exceedingly limited.
As your correspondent very justly says, evasion takes many forms. Some-
times it is successful, but it does not defeat the main purpose of the law. I
question very much if in the departmental service at Washington or in one
of our big post offices all the kinds of evasion taken together would affect
one per cent of the appointments, and I believe that during the last six
years we have steadily, year by year, diminished even this small percentage.
Undoubtedly there is some transgression of the law against levying
assessments, I am inclined to think that there is a good deal of transgression.
Within the last year we have procured convictions against a postmaster in
Ohio for violating this law and against a few collectors of internal revenue
in Kentucky, and have had all of them heavily fined. We haven't succeeded
in putting a complete stop to political assessments, and we have taken par-
ticular pains in our last report to point out this; but we have very greatly
diminished the number of political assessments. Unfortunately promotions
and reductions are not touched by the law at all, and we have nothing to
do with them. The fact that they are made so generally for political reasons
affords an excellent reason why the law should be extended to cover them.
In both of our last annual reports, and also in a special report to the Senate
416
last fall, we have shown that there is every reason to suppose that there has
been transgression of the law as regards the matter of dismissals and forced
transgressions in certain bureaus here at Washington, and in certain small
post offices; but in the departmental service, taken as a whole, I don't think
these cases of dismissal or forced resignations amount to more than half a
per cent a year, and I am practically certain that they do not amount to one
per cent a year. In most of the big post offices the proportion is no bigger,
and the same is the case in the railway mail service and the one or two big-
gest custom houses. In some of the smaller offices, however, I believe that
very great abuses have occurred, notably in Indiana and Mississippi, and we
have called these abuses pointedly and repeatedly to the attention of the
Post Office Department, both privately and publicly, and have worked to
have the law amended so as to give us power to deal with them.
Don't you think that on the whole this makes a really good showing of
the law? Faithfully yours
506 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS
Washington, December 26, 1894
Darling Bye, I have not written you before because I have been dreadfully
harassed over this offer of Strong's.1 Finally I refused, after much hesitation.
I should much have liked to help him, and to find myself again in close
touch with my New York friends; but I was not willing to leave this work
at this time, just when the ends are loose. In a year I can, and shall, leave,
with a clear conscience; but now, after six years work, I can not go when
another year would put the capstone on my work.
I have been very uneasy about you, but I am so glad you have been really
resting. My own Bye, you must take care of yourself; and if you are willing
to lodge in a rabbit warren you must not spend another Xmas away from us.
The bunnies had a heavenly time; but Edie is far from well and is in bed; she
is thoroughly done out. The one present in which she has fairly revelled was
the Gaultier; you have such good taste that your books always meet exactly
what she longs for in a really good old edition; and the stand for the vase was
of course the very thing I wished. The children longed for you all the time.
On Xmas day Edie could not, I am happy to say, come down to lunch, and
I entertained the Lockes & Aunt Lucy & Maud by myself. We dined at the
Lodges; Cabot is now morosely waiting for me to take a walk in the snow;
he sends you his best love. I do'n't think I'll be able to come on to see you
off, Bye dear, for I should hardly get a glimpse of you, and I have much
to do here. Ever yours
1 Mayor Strong had offered Roosevelt the commissionership of street cleaning in
New York City.
417
507 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ
Washington, December 26, 1894
My dear Mr. Schurz: After much thought, and, I am bound to say, much
hesitation, I have declined Col. Strong's offer. I was very strongly tempted
to take it, because the heaviest fight for the next six months or so will be in
New York. But I do not wish to scamp my job here. A year hence, or there-
abouts, I expect to have gotten things into shape so that I can leave. By that
time Proctor will be thoroughly into the work, and a more admirable man
for President of this Commission cannot be imagined. But I found that he
felt as if I would be deserting him if I left just at this time when, largely
owing to what he and I have urged, the President has made these extensions,
and when we are in the thick of a fight just at this moment with the Treas-
ury Department to prevent the repetition on a somewhat smaller scale of the
scandals attending the classification of the railway mail service under Presi-
dent Harrison.
My New York friends, rather to my amusement, all took the ground
that the work of cleaning the streets of New York was practically necessary,
and that this work here at Washington was merely "academic," and of very
little consequence comparatively. But as I told them this is all nonsense. In
the last six years we have added 25,000 employes to the classified service.
In a few cases the changes have been merely nominal, but in the bulk the
change is real and permanent. In another year I will have put this business
in position so that I can leave it with a clear conscience, but I do not want
to spend six years' faithful work at a thing and then leave it, for another
work, with the ends all loose, and just when I could tie these ends up by
staying a twelvemonth longer. Faithfully yours
508 • TO WILLIAM LAFAYETTE STRONG RoOSCVelt
Washington, December, 1894
Dear Sir: In accordance with what I told you I write to you now in reference
to Joseph Murray and the Excise Commissionership. I understand that the
commission of at least one of the Board of Excise begins with your own
term, so that there will be a vacancy immediately. Mr. Joseph Murray is the
gentlemen whom a number of us, including the late Rev. Howard Crosby
and his son, Ernest Crosby, and myself recommended to Mayor Grace to
appoint at the time that we had supported Mayor Grace against Grant and
Gibbs in '84. 1 mention the names of the Crosbys as I think they are guaran-
tees, at least of our opinion of Mr. Murray. Mr. Murray is a Catholic who
has never been frightened by priestly dictation on the one side, or by threat
of A.P.A. action on the other, into flinching one hand's breadth from his
political principles; and I think that where possible that is the kind of Cath-
olic to whom we should give every encouragement. He is a man of rigid
418
integrity, of courage and common sense, and with a thorough knowledge of
the city and of the city's needs such as could not be obtained by any man
who had not had his experience. I have long been very intimately associated
with him, and I can speak of him in the very highest terms. He has worked
as a contractor for Mr. D. Willis James,1 whom you might consult about
him. He mentioned to me incidentally the other day that if appointed to the
position the first man whom he should seek, and to whose advice he would
give all possible heed, would be Dr. Parkhurst.2 1 believe that he would know
far more what it was practicable to do in minimizing the evils of the liquor
traffic than would a man like myself, or like most of your business friends;
and he combines the practical knowledge and experience with a resolute
determination to do right. He has been for some time past a building con-
tractor, but he was clerk of the Committee of Cities in the New York legis-
lature at the time that Ernest Crosby was its chairman; and Crosby is another
man to whom I would gladly refer you in the case. I can speak of my valued
friend Mr. Murray in the very highest terms, and I believe his appointment
would be a most admirable thing for the city. Very sincerely yours
509 • TO JACOB AUGUST Riis Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, January 3, 1895
Dear Mr. Riis: Just before receiving your letter I wrote you that I should
probably be in New York on the jyth, i8th, and perhaps the ipth. It is
barely possible that I may have to make a change in these dates; if so, I shall
know in a day or two and will inform you at once. Need I say, my dear sir,
that it gives me the most heartfelt pleasure to write to Mayor Strong to put
you on as member of the Advisory Committee about small parks? I am ex-
ceedingly anxious that, if it is possible, the Mayor shall appoint you to some
position which will make you one of his official advisers.1 1 think you know
1 Daniel Willis James, New York financier and philanthropist, partner in Phelps,
Dodge and Company, friend of Dr. C. H. Parkhurst.
8 Charles Henry Parkhurst, Presbyterian clergyman who, in 1892, had surprised New
York City by declaring from the pulpit that the city was governed by "polluted
harpies that ... are feeding day and night on its quivering vitals ... a lying,
perjured, rum-soaked, libidinous lot." This and similar observations by Dr. Park-
hurst did much to arouse public opinion to the iniquities of the municipal govern-
ment. Much credit, both for the Lexow investigation and for the overthrow of
the Tammany government which followed it, can be given to Dr. Parkhurst. At
first Roosevelt was much impressed by him, as were many Republicans, but the
minister's highly colored criticisms soon lost much of their force, pointed, as they
were, indiscriminately at any nearby target. After he had attacked the Police Com-
mission, in Roosevelt's time, for "the indignity of its demeanor," and described the
men (Roosevelt among them) who supported Plata's nomination for the Senate as
"those who consent, spaniel-like, to lick the hand of their master," Roosevelt's
initial respect for Parkhurst ceased. In later years he spoke of the minister in the
tones and with the words he reserved for such men as the editors of the Evening
Post and the Mugwumps.
1Riis refused to consider any official position.
419
more than any other man in the city about the very subjects which it is
really most important for the Mayor to work at. It is an excellent thing to
have rapid transit, but it is a good deal more important, if you look at mat-
ters with a proper perspective, to have ample playgrounds in the poorer
quarters of the city and to take the children of the poor off the streets to
prevent them from growing up as toughs. In the same way it is an admirable
thing to have clean streets; indeed it is an essential thing to have them; but
it would be a better thing to have our schools large enough to give ample
accommodation to all should-be pupils and to provide them with proper
playgrounds.
As I told you, I am afraid the Mayor may have taken it a little amiss that
I would not accept the position of Street Cleaning Commissioner. I would
like to have done so very much, because I want to help him out in any way,
and I should have been delighted to smash up the corrupt contractors and
to have tried to put the street cleaning commissioner's force absolutely out
of the domain of politics; but with the actual work of cleaning the streets,
dumping the garbage, etc., I wasn't familiar. It was out of my line, and,
moreover, I didn't feel that I could leave this work here — in which I believe
with all my heart and soul — f or at least a year to come, and so I had to refuse.
Faithfully yours
[Handwritten] I'll go in to Mayor's office with you in the fore noon, if
convenient; I have asked him to lunch with us, but I do'n't know whether
he will.
5 1 o • TO HORACE ELISHA scuDDER Houghton Mifflin Mss.
Washington, January 8, 1895
Dear Air. Scudder: I thank you cordially for what you say about my book;
I am very glad you liked it. Yes, since writing my book I came across Frank
Bolles' two volumes,1 and I was delighted with them. I had just written him
a letter to say so when I read the news of his death in the papers. I quite
agree with your estimate of him.
The article you refer to in the Atlantic is very striking. There are one or
two points of it I want to talk over when we meet.
You spoke of the question of reviews being a puzzling one. There are
one or two books I am going to call to your attention which seem to me
worth while reviewing. Have you seen Voodoo Tales, recently published by
Putnams, I think? It is a really striking book, with, of course, suggestions
of Uncle Remus in it, but written in Missouri, and with a very interesting
admixture of Indian folklore engrafted on the negro. The tales are supposed
to be told by four old negresses, one of whom is half a Choctaw, while one
1 Frank Bolles wrote Land of the Lingering Snow, Chronicles of a Stroller in New
England from January to June (Boston, 1891), and At the North of Bearcamp
Water, Chronicles of a Stroller in New England from July to December (Boston,
1893).
420
of the others has very little negro blood at all, being chiefly Indian, with a
slight French admixture. Most of the tales have no connection whatever with
ihose of Uncle Remus, and indeed the only resemblance is the occasional
appearance of Br. Rabbit. They resemble more closely the Blackfoot and
Pawnee Hero Tales recently collected by Grinnell, and the Zuni and other
tales of the southern New Mexican Indians collected by Lummis.2 I should
think that if you could get some expert to deal with all of these books in
connection with Joel Chandler Harris' latest plantation stories you would
have a really valuable article.
Next, have you seen Wolseley's Life of Marlborough? Wolseley writes
well and interestingly. As a military man he is a ridiculous personage, and
he needs a savage dressing down when he ventures to compare Marlborough
with Washington in point of moral character. The comparison, to be apt,
should be with Benedict Arnold. Benedict Arnold was not as great a military
genius as Marlborough, but in point of character he was a really good man.
A good review of these might be of interest.
By the way, I shall send you a review I wrote of Kidd's Social Evolution,
which I suppose is too late for you to make any use of now; but if you have
read the book you might possibly be interested in what I say.
With apologies for having written you so at length, which I have only
done because the Atlantic is our solitary literary magazine, and I take an
immense personal interest in it, I am, Very faithfully yours
5 I I • TO EDWARD PORRITT RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, January 26, 1895
My dear Sir: I have the pleasure of your very interesting letter of January
21, and am glad to have the opportunity of being of service in aiding you to
a correct impression of the merit system in this country. The experience of
Great Britain in the reform of the civil service has an intimate bearing upon
American politics and we have passed through much the same experience
here that led to the reform there. We have paid too little heed to the ex-
perience of other great nations in achieving reforms which have worked a
complete revolution in their administration. I remember reading the article
in the Quarterly of which you speak, and it is curious to see how very simi-
lar the dread of the Tories was to the prophecies of the spoilsmen in our two
great political parties. A comparison of the history of the reform movement
in the two countries would, as you say, be helpful to the good cause and to
the education of public opinion concerning it.
I note with special interest that you point out that copyists in the English
civil service are not usually of the establishment and that the higher appoint-
* Charles Fletcher Lummis, author and explorer in southwestern United States,
Mexico, and South America; city editor, Los Angeles Times, 1885-1887. He once
walked from Cincinnati to Los Angeles by -a roundabout route "purely for pleasure."
421
ments almost necessarily go to the sons of people of wealth and position. This
marks a fundamental difference in the theory and effects of the civil service
system in the two countries. We make the examinations as simple as the
duties of the places to be filled admit, while, as I understand it, you seek to
obtain the highest in character and educational qualifications, no matter what
the place. Our entrance grades to the service are those of watchmen, mes-
sengers and copyists, requiring only the simplest subjects in common school
education, and the examinations have therefore a far wider effect in the
direct promotion of education among the people though probably a less
effect upon the highest education. You aim to secure young men who have
received the highest and best education the country affords, while with us
the country common school education is deemed amply sufficient, except,
of course, for places requiring technical qualifications, and even there the
examinations have direct relation to the duties to be performed. I had occa-
sion recently to contrast the examinations for the postal service in Great
Britain with those here, and I was surprised to find that the British examina-
tions were so much more difficult and scholastic than ours for postmen and
sorters, although both systems aim at practical tests. In the face of this differ-
ence in the theory upon which the systems are founded, it is curious that the
British system should be charged with being too democratic and levelling in
tendency and that of America with being bureaucratic and tending to create
an aristocracy of office holders. High attainments in this country have far
greater reward in private than in public employment. Professional men often
receive only one third or one fourth as much from the government as they
would outside. It is difficult to find competent men for these low-salaried
positions, coupled with an uncertain tenure of service and small opportunities
of promotion. The relative conditions of advancement in private and public
life in the two countries must be borne in mind in considering the differences
in their civil service. Only five per cent advantage is found in the proportion
of those passing the examinations of the collegiate education over the com-
mon school. Seventy per cent of those who pass have had only a common
school education. The possession of a college education confers no necessary
advantage except in examinations for highly technical places, as, for instance,
patent examiners, computers etc. The average age of all those who pass is
about 28 years, showing that business experience and force have more weight
than mere educational qualifications. This radical difference in the theory of
the two systems must have a very marked effect on the character of the
service in the two countries. The British service has a very great advantage
in the certainty of tenure and promotion. With us chiefs of division and
higher places are under the patronage system, and not open to those in the
lower ranks. As yet, a young man entering our service has small assurance of
rising steadily through merit and he cannot hope as yet to get beyond the
ordinary clerical grades; too often he is subject to the caprice of superiors
appointed by patronage with possibly little sympathy for the method by
422
which he entered the service. If removed or reduced he has often no practical
redress. Moreover there is a certain fluidity in our natural character as yet
which makes the average American like to vary his occupation from time
to time. As a result the civil service is not looked to as a career by anyone.
Very few young men come into the service at Washington with any idea of
remaining more than a few years; often merely long enough to support them
through a course at a professional evening school. This feeling will continue
until promotions, the higher places in the service held open as rewards of
merit, are based upon merit, and a check put upon unjust removals. Faith-
fully yours
5 I 2 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Washington, January 27, 1895
Darling Bye, All this last week I have been here alone with the four younger
bunnies, Edie being at Orange with Alice, to get the latter's ankle braces
fixed. At breakfast I generally have to tell Ted and Kermit stories of hunting
and of ranch life; and then Ted walks part way down to the office with me.
In the evening I take my tea with Ted and Kermit and Ethel while they are
having supper, and then I read, first to the two smallest, and afterwards to
Ted. As for Archie he is the sweetest little fellow in the world, and I play
with him as much as I possibly can.
I am at the office as a rule from ten or eleven to four or five, and usually
walk up with Cabot. On Sunday mornings I ride with him. My Civil Service
work goes on much as usual; like all other Presidents Cleavland wishes more
credit than he gets, and bitterly objects when blamed for his many short-
comings. By the way, he and Gresham have certainly made a most horrible
failure both about China and in Hawai.
I have dined out every night this week. At the Harry Whites (who make
a great point of being pleasant) I took in a sister of Elliott Zbrowski, a
Marquise de something. At one of the other dinners I took in Mrs. Phil. Sheri-
dan, who is always charming, and very well read — though she does play
poker.
Edith will send you Bob's delightful letter. I enclose one for Hector.
Give my best love to Helen. Your loving brother
5 I 3 • TO WILLIAM A. FITCH RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, February 6, 1895
My Dear Sir: * I was much pleased to hear from you. I am glad that you have
read some of my sketches. I was only once in Texas. That time I got off at
Uvalde, and spent three or four days at a ranch on the Nueces hunting java-
linas on horseback. I am no roper at all, and I am not a bronco-buster either,
1 William A. Fitch, collector of customs at Eagle Pass, Texas.
4*3
but when I was in the cow business on the Little Missouri I went regularly
on the roundup, and had to ride some rather rough horses. I broke an arm
off one and a rib off another. I was also deputy sheriff there for some time;
but for the last few years I have been confined to more sedentary pursuits.
Now, before submitting any scheme to the Commission, I would like
some specific information from you. It seems to me from what you say that
we would need in the case of your mounted inspectors, in the first place, an
iron-clad certificate from thoroughly respectable and trustworthy parties
that the man never drinks. In what form would you suggest that this certifi-
cate be made? Would you like to have a doctor sign it, or would you accept
the certificates of two or three reputable citizens?
2. If you wish the man merely to be a good horseman, but not necessarily
able to ride unbroken horses, this might be met both by a certificate as to his
horsemanship and by requiring him to ride in the presence of the examiners,
or, before appointment, in the presence of yourself, so as to show his skill.
This would do away with the necessity of a regular examination on this
point. What would you advise about this?
3. In reference to the cow business, I think it would be a little difficult
to hold an examination into the man's capacity for reading brands from
horseback and in sorting cattle. This can and will be done if you say it is
necessary; but how would it do for you to draw up a form of certificate
which would have to be filled in by at least two responsible ranch holders
setting forth at length the time the man has served as a cowpuncher and the
ability he displays, or has displayed, in reading brands and sorting cattle?
If you will look at the vouchers used in our examinations you will see that
they contain a good many questions. Now for a voucher of the kind pro-
posed we might make the blanks to be filled comprise a statement as to how
long the man has been in the cow business, what are the actual number of
months he has worked, what are the wages he has received, who were the
different owners for whom he has worked, whether he is a good roper,
whether in roping in a corral he catches his calf by the head, by the fore legs
or by the hind legs (on the Nueces I was much struck by the superiority as
ropers of your men to the Northern cow punchers), whether he has ever
been on the trail, etc. If these papers were signed by responsible ranchmen
they would probably serve your purpose. What do you think of this? If you
wish, we could add a special question as to his proficiency in brand-reading,
and should inform him that in the event of his attaining an eligible average
and being up for promotion he would only be promoted upon satisfying the
appointing officer that he was proficient as a brand-reader and could sort
cattle.
4. The tests for marksmanship we can very readily give, as I said in my
former letter, by the use of the lo-ring circular target. I don't like the old
fashioned so-called Creedmore target, of quadrangular shape, because you
can't tell from it much about the man's merit. Would ten shots with the rifle
424
at a hundred yards, and ten with the pistol at twenty be in your opinion
sufficient as a test of marksmanship, or would you like a further test, in each
case at shorter distances, for speed in firing? My idea would be that with
marksmanship, unlike the horsemanship, sobriety and brand-reading and
cattle sorting tests, we would make it part of the competitive examination,
weighting it say about a third of the whole; then the remaining two-thirds
we would give, I would suggest, in the form of requiring the men to spell,
taking out twenty rather simple words, requiring him to write a legible hand,
and testing him as to his capacity in making a report by making him write a
letter upon some given subject, and, finally, testing him in simple arithmetic,
addition, multiplication, subtraction, division and fractions Do you think he
ought to know anything about interest? It would be hard to give an examina-
tion in speaking Spanish, though easy enough to give one in writing Spanish;
so perhaps all we should do would be to require the man to state that he
knows enough Spanish to talk and understand it, and to make him, when he
comes up for appointment, give proof of this in your presence.
Pray write me any further suggestions in this matter. Very truly yours
514 • TO F. DOREMUS Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, February 9, 1895
Dear Sir:1 — My attention has been called to your excellent editorial in ref-
erence to the recent demand of the St. Louis Republic for the repeal of the
civil service law. In the editorial of the Republic which you answer, the
whole argument is based upon absolutely false statements which the least
investigation by the writer would have shown him to be false. These state-
ments I have already answered in a letter published, I presume, in the St.
Louis papers. Permit me, however, to call your attention to certain matters
which may be of interest to Texans.
I do not think that any section of the country has benefited so much by
the enactment of the civil service law as the Gulf States. Under the old
patronage system the requirement of the kw in reference to the apportion-
ment of appointments was never complied with and never will be nor can be
complied with. It is only under the civil service law, and under the Commis-
sion which can supervise the matter, that the Gulf States, including Texas,
have received their fair share of appointments. Thus, of the appointments
made under the operation of the civil service law in the departments at
Washington from 1883, when the law went into effect, to February 5 a year
ago, Texas had received 121 of the 127 to which it was entitled according
to its population, there being a deficit of six, which has since been made up.
But under the patronage system it was entitled to have received 292 appoint-
ments and had actually received only 24, making the enormous deficit of
268. I would call your attention also to the fact that a little more than half
1 F. Doremus, managing editor of the Dallas News.
4*5
of the appointments received by Texas under the civil service law were
received during the four years of the Harrison administration. I am happy
to say that I myself was able to take the initiative in bringing up the appor-
tionment of Texas. Soon after I began my term of service as civil service
commissioner in 1889 an increase of force in the departments was authorized
by Congress. I found the Gulf States were in arrears and this increase gave
us the chance to equalise the quotas of the different states. We held a special
series of examinations early in 1890 in the Southern States, including Texas,
advertising as widely as possible the fact that several hundred appointments
were to be made and that the Commission guaranteed fair play to all appli-
cants, Democrats and Republicans alike. In consequence, we were able for
the first time to bring the quotas of the Gulf States level with the quotas of
the Northern states, and I may mention incidentally from information re-
ceived that we have reason to believe that at least three-fourths of the persons
appointed through the examinations from the Gulf States at that time were
Democrats, although the administration at Washington was Republican. Of
course, under the spoils system not a single one of these men would have
obtained an appointment; but under the operations of the civil service law
they were appointed wholly without regard to their politics.
I enclose lists of those recently appointed from Texas in the Departmental
service and in the railway mail service as it may possibly be of interest to
your readers to see the names and the places of legal residence of the persons
in question. I begin at the dates hereinafter named because our lists since then
are readily accessible, but I can furnish you lists of those previously ap-
pointed if you desire them.
It is a pleasure to me to give this information to a paper of the importance
of the News and wide circulation, a paper that has so honorably upheld the
cause of decent government by championing the civil service law. Very
truly yours
515 -TO FRANCIS MARION COCKRELL RoOSCVelt
Washington, February 13, 1895
My dear Senator Cockrell: Although you do not entirely sympathize with
us about the Civil Service Law, I know well, my dear sir, that you wish us
to execute it faithfully as long as it stands on the statute book, and that you
do not believe that we should be hampered so as to be unable to execute it.
In the legislative appropriation bill the House cut down the salary of our
Secretary (who, by the way, is a Democrat) from $2,000 to $1,600, placing
it below eight of the Commission's clerks who receive $1,800 each, but whose
duties of course do not compare in extent or importance with his. He is not
only the Secretary of the Commission, but he has complete charge of one
branch of the Commission's work, and is also the Disbursing Officer. The
salary has been $2,000 since 1885. It ought to be raised to $2,500, but to
426
reduce it to $1,600 is a gross absurdity, and has no excuse save the desire to
injure the efficiency of the Commission's work.
Bespeaking your attention to the matter, I am Very truly yours
5 I 6 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoiuleS MSS.°
Washington, February 17, 1895
Darling Bye, I thought you might like to see the enclosed; I think it really
wonderful how much Frank impressed himself on those with whom he was
brought in contact.
The Winty Chanlers have been staying at the Lodges. Last Sunday they
dined with us; the Rockhills were the other guests. Dear Mr. Lee with "Aunt
Hattie and Uncle Charlie" were on for Alice's birthday; at the party I came
home and played vigorously. We have been dining at various places — the
Olneys, Leiters, Storers, Brices, &c. Tom Reed is very much preoccupied;
the shadow of the Presidential contest is on him. Our whole political and
business world is torn up over the financial situation.
During the snowy weather we have had for the last ten days I have been
much interested in practicing with norwegian snow shoes; it would be im-
possible to have greater fun than a coast down a good hill on them.
Reed has made an admirable speech on the gold bond issue; the President
has made an unwise contract with the bankers.
I took a long ride with Cabot this morning; many of the roads are
utterly impassible from snow drifts. Your loving brother
517 • TO HUGH MC KIT-TRICK
Washington, February 21, 1895
Dear Sir* I have received your copy of the editorial from the St. Louis
Republic in which it praises Secretaries Carlisle and Smith on the alleged
ground that they have violated the law. I should question if the gentlemen
named would feel particularly thankful to the editor of the St. Louis Repub-
lic for insisting that they are law-breakers and have viokted their oaths of
office. This is a position entirely unworthy of any honorable man. As usual,
however, the editor simply knows nothing of the facts of the case and noth-
ing of the law about which he is writing. We stated explicitly in our report
upon the Bureau of Engraving and Printing that the law contained no pro-
vision which enabled us to guarantee equal treatment to black and white.
We felt, however, that the spirit of the law undoubtedly meant that there
should be this equal treatment, and that when the blacks were discriminated
against we intended to make public the facts, so that we might at least excite
the indignation of honest men about them. As a matter of fact, Secretary
Smith and Secretary Carlisle have not violated and could not violate the law
1 Hugh McKittrick, secretary of the Missouri Qvil Service Reform Association.
427
as regards their offices generally. In the Departments of the Treasury and
Interior, as in all the other Departments at Washington, the enormous ma-
jority of the men who were in office two years ago are now in office. Every
now and then some chief of division or head of a bureau who is a spoilsman
and is given to the corrupt and dishonest practices common to the spoils-
mongering class will get some man out for political reasons; but the diffi-
culties in the way are so great that cases of this kind do not occur once in a
hundred rimes. I am well within the mark when I say that not one per cent
of the people in the departmental service at Washington, whether in the
Treasury Department, the Department of the Interior or any other Depart-
ment, have been jeopardized in any way for their political opinions and
beliefs during the past two years, or during any preceding two years while
I have been in office as a Commissioner. In the vast majority of cases the law
is faithfully observed, and in the small minority of cases where it is not
observed the Commission intends in the future to act as it has in the past;
that is, to expose and denounce the wrongdoer and, wherever possible, to
secure his removal and the reinstatement of the wronged individual.
I shall be pleased to have this communication published. Yours truly
5 I 8 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Washington, February 25, 1895
Darling Bye, We had the Johny Stewards to dinner. They are really very
nice, and so pleasant and simple. We had the Caboty's & Springy &c to meet
them.
We have seen a good deal of the Harry Whites, who have been extremely
pleasant, and I have grown quite to like them. She is very intelligent, and
has "caught on" to everything here without delay. He is not intellectual, but
has done some really excellent work in connection with our efforts to intro-
duce reformed methods in the consular service; and as he takes a very intelli-
gent interest in our foreign policy has been of some use on more than one
point.
I have had rather too much of dinners lately; we have been to a perfect
string of them, and I always eat and drink too much. Still, I have enjoyed
them greatly, for here I meet just the people I care to. It is so pleasant to
deal with big interests, and big men.
Dear Florence Lockwood was down here, looking at matters through
pure Godkinian spectacles; and Grant Lafarge,1 whom I like. We had her
to dinner; and I had him to lunch. Your loving brother
1 Christopher Grant La Farge, architect, student of H. H. Richardson; son of John
and father of Christopher and Oliver. Among his principal works are the Cathedral
of St. John the Divine, New York, St. Matthew's Church, Washington, and all the
stations of the New York subways built under the Rapid Transit Commission. In
September of 1895 he married Florence Bayard Lockwood, a niece of Thomas
Francis Bayard.
428
5 I 9 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
Washington, February 27, 1 895
Dear Mr. Swift: I am very much pleased with what you say about reprinting
in pamphlet form "The Office-Seeker," "The Plum Idiot," and the other
stories of the kind. It has long been a favorite idea of mine, and indeed,
curiously enough I broached this idea in an article in the Atlantic some years
ago. Instead of having it put in pamphlet form, however, I wish it could be
put in book form. People would then read it more as literature than as a
tract, and it would then have more influence.
Now, a word privately. There are a good many things that I want you
to know, and at the same time can't be made public. I have grown very much
disgusted with Bissell. He will try to prevent a wrong, and he will give us
good regulations, but he will not punish a wrongdoer. I can't get him to act
even upon the clearest cases where it is perfectly evident that the post-
master has turned out men for political reasons. Five or six of these cases I
am going to publish in the body of our report, which will be out soon. I
think a record ought to be made of them. Moreover, he uses the "offensive
partisanship" business just as it always has been used against the party out of
power, and in favor of the party in power. Democratic letter carriers at
Pittsburg and Philadelphia take open part as paid watchers at the polls and
as delegates to conventions and they are not molested for it; but when
Republican carriers at Trenton, Dover, and Portsmouth, are even accused,
without any clear proof, of less active partisanship, out they go. When we
call the attention of the Postmaster General to this, small additional charges
are filed, and the carriers stay out just the same. I have just had a vigorous
fight with the Attorney General to prevent him rendering an even worse
decision than he has yet rendered, in connection with the Baltimore post
office. I think I have succeeded. At any rate I know I have stopped him from
deciding on one point, as he was inclined to, in a way which would have
permitted the absolute looting of the post offices, for he actually was pre-
paring to decide that the postmaster could treat a position as unclassified
one day and appoint any man he chose to it, and the next day assign that
man to clerical work, declaring that the position had become classified, pro-
mote the man to any office he chose, and then declare the work of the posi-
tion non-clerical and appointed whoever he wished. Of course this would
have rendered it possible to make a clean sweep of every office. We have had
a great deal of trouble with the Baltimore office. The man administered the
law as regards the non-excepted force excellently; but unfortunately he got
it into his foolish head, in backing up Congressman Cowen1 for election last
year, that he could by a judicious use of the patronage of the excepted places
build up a Cleveland and anti-Gorman machine. In trying to beat the poli-
1 John Kissig Cowen, lawyer, railroad official, free trader, congressman from Mary-
land, 1885-1887, 1895-1897.
429
ticians at their own game he of course simply burned his fingers, and has
behaved more foolishly than you can imagine since.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Swift. Faithfully yours
P.S. I cannot say how glad I am at the way Strong has been acting. His
election was a thoroughly satisfactory result of last year's campaign. Morton
is at any rate an immeasurable improvement over Flower; and indeed the
legislature itself, in spite of some very undesirable individuals being in it, is
much more responsive to healthy public sentiment than any legislature we
have had in New York for years.
520 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, February 28, 1895
Dear Cabot: Do remember to make the fight for Doyle's appropriation2 and
publish that list. Point out the fact that Breckinridge made the point of order
against Doyle, and did not dare to make it against Thurber, the President's
Secretary, against Hamlin and Curtis and Assistant Postmaster General Jones,
and all the others; and find out if Gorman and his crowd will vote in the
face of those figures to knock out Doyle. I see Gorman prophesies a great
deficit, but it is an infamy to cut down battleships when they actually pass
that cursed sugar bounty. Yours
5 2 I - TO CHARLES HENRY PARKHURST RoOSCVelt
March 8, 1895
My Dear Sir: I trust you will pardon my taking the liberty to write you
when I have not the honor of your personal acquaintance. I have, however,
seen you at so many meetings, either given in your honor or else where you
were one of the central figures, that I feel I can do away with a personal
introduction. I am much interested in excise matters in New York because I
among others recommended to Mayor Strong a man in whose integrity and
courage I have the highest confidence, and who was appointed, Joseph Mur-
ray. I know nothing of his colleagues beyond the fact that one of them is
said to have been nominated by the Grace Democracy and one by the Steck-
lerite Democracy. Mr. Murray, however, I do know, and know that he is the
most anxious to administer the law with absolute cleanness and uprightness
and in a way that will be satisfactory to decent people. In speaking to him
at the time that he was appointed he told me, of his own accord, that the
man whose advice he would most care to have in the matter would be yours.
Some years ago, when I had recommended him for the same position, he had
the warm «support* of Dr. Ernest Howard Crosby. I am not on the ground
myself and do not know exactly what the steps are that ought to be taken
1 Lodge, I, 141.
•John T. Doyle was secretary to the Civil Service Commission.
430
by the Excise Board to make things better; but I know that any suggestion
from you of anything that ought to be done would be most welcome to
Mr. Murray. If there is anything crooked going on I am sure he would do
his best to stop it if he got the chance. Meanwhile if I can serve the cause of
decent government by urging upon him any measures which you deem im-
portant and advisable in the administration of the excise law, whether as to
refusing licenses or in any other way, I should be greatly pleased to have the
opportunity. What I want is to see the law executed, and all wrongdoers, no
matter who, punished. When I am in New York I shall do myself the honor
of calling upon you.
With great respect, Very sincerely yours
[Handwritten] Whatever abuses in connection with the excise law you
may think need remedy I will with the greatest pleasure urge Mr. Murray to
remedy; any licenses to be refused, or anything. I do'n't know exactly what
ought to be done, but I wish to see it done in the right way!
5 2 2 • TO JOSEPH MURRAY Roosevelt Mss.
New York, March 8, 1895
My Dear Joe: I was delighted to hear from you. You have been very good
about Chamberlain.1 1 had no idea of his getting a place for more than a few
months, if he was really competent to do the duties and if there was a fit
vacancy for him. I thank you heartily.
I may have to give letters of introduction to you to one or two people,
though I shall try to avoid it; but in such case simply treat the letter as
being an introduction to you and a guarantee that I think the man pretty
straight, and do just what you think wise.
Now just one point in reference to the civil service law. Don't buck up
against it, whether you believe in it or not, and don't try to evade it. The
places that are out from under it you have a perfect right to fill as you
choose. I know your views in those matters, exactly as you know mine, and
I should not at this date in our friendship try to present the matter to you
in a new light; but where the law obtains be careful to pay heed to it. I am
not a bit afraid about your making a good record, but I don't want there to
be any possibility of anyone outside misunderstanding your record. What I
want to say now I want you to treat as strictly confidential. The other day
when I was in company with Senator Lodge one or two Platt men and one
or two mugwumps who were present joined in saying that they thought you
would get tripped up by Harburger,2 who, they said, was a thoroughly dis-
honest man and would try to make money out of the excise business in the
lAnna Roosevelt's butler.
* Julius Harburger, president of the Steckler Association of independent Democrats,
appointed excise commissioner by Mayor Strong. He became a leading opponent of
Roosevelt's policy on the Sunday Closing Law.
431
interest of himself and of the Stecklerites. The Platt men insisted that he
would make a combination with you against the Grace man, and would try
to flatter you and yield to you so that the first thing you knew you would
find yourself entangled in some way with him. Lodge spoke up at once and
said that from what he knew of you he was perfectly certain that neither
Harburger nor anyone else could pull wool over your eyes, and that you
would not go in with him one step beyond what you deemed right and
proper. I merely said that I should guarantee that no corrupt business could
go on long in the board without your finding it out, and that when you did
find it out you would put a stop to it if it were possible for any man to do
so, and if not would put yourself on record so that your own skirts would
be absolutely clear. It is a hard position you are in; and one where there is
need for the utmost courage, caution, uprightness, and knowledge of men.
It was for these very reasons that I so earnestly advocated your appointment,
for you have all the qualities I name, and I know you will succeed; but for
Heaven's sake be on your guard, and from the very outset make both your
colleagues understand that with every license you will consider nothing
whatever but the character of the man and the requirements of the law, and
that no amount of political pull or of influence of any kind can avail to make
you grant or refuse a license, or act in any way save strictly upon the merits
of the case. Perhaps you may think this sounds like preaching, but as you
know, I am almost as much interested in your success as if you were myself.
Keep in touch with Brookfield,8 and if possible make Mayor Strong feel
that you are delighted to yield to any suggestion of his and are anxious to
carry out his policy. As for Dr. Parkhurst, I wish you could see him. Don't
you think that Crosby could manage to bring you both together? I would
like much to have you start all right with those men, as they sometimes act
so irrationally if they get a twist the wrong way. Faithfully yours
P.S. Always remember your parable of the square loaf and the round
«loaf». When honest people want a particular thing a particular way, try
to give them that thing and to do it that way if you conscientiously can.
Above all, be sure that you don't violate any law, whether it is the civil
service law or any other. You are an officer sworn to uphold the laws. The
civil service law is on the statute books and it is just as much to be observed
as the excise law. You may think you ought to be allowed to appoint whom
you wish, and you may think that you ought to be allowed to make the
license fee five hundred dollars, but you have no more right to put your
thoughts into execution in one case than in the other. In the places outside
•William Brookfield, an active Republican closely affiliated with the reform move-
ment; chairman of the Republican County Committee, 1892-1894. Although Mayor
Strong was fully aware of Brookfield's unfriendly relations with Senator Platt, he ap-
pointed Brookneld to the office of commissioner of public works, a position com-
manding extensive patronage. Platt retaliated by substituting Edward Lauterbach for
Brookfield as chairman of the County Committee and opposing all reform measures
which would give any patronage to the mayor.
43*
the law you have a right to appoint and remove as you see fit, and I have no
question that you will only appoint thoroughly honest and capable men, but
remember, Joe, that you have not only your own reputation, but the repu-
tation of the Mayor who appointed you, and even to a certain extent of
myself, who recommended you, at stake. Where the civil service law obtains
obey it rigidly. Don't wait to have anyone force you into obeying it, and
don't evade it, but live right up to it. Do this because it is right, and because
as a sworn officer of the Government you must anyhow, but remember also
that you should do it as a matter of expediency. A great many people who
voted with you at the last election earnestly believe in the law. A great many
more, whether they believe in it or not, insist that while on the statute books
it shall be executed. You know how prone people are if they once get a cant
against a man to misjudge his actions. Don't let them get this cant against you
in the beginning. Be sure to see that nobody puts you in a position as regards
the administration of the excise law itself where anything you do will need
the slightest explanation. Refuse any doubtful license where there is a pro-
test, or where you know the facts and there is no protest; and keep a vigilant
watch for any corruption, and stamp it out the minute you find it without
the least regard as to who it is to hurt.
Good luck to you again, old man.
5 2 3 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CO'WleS
Washington, March 10, 1895
Darling Bye, Bob has gone, much lamented by all; he left behind a really
capital sketch of the missionary work at Fort Churchill.
The first three days of the week I spent on a trip to Cincinnati; where
I had to examine the Post Office & Internal Revenue Service. I also attended
a farewell dinner to Storer, where he delivered a really capital speech on
the currency question; and made an "address" to a crowded and enthusiastic
audience on Civil Service Reform. I breakfasted, lunched and dined with all
kinds of people — the Harvard Club, an Agnostic Jew, and a dear old Gen-
eral Cox, a scholarly military critic, who had been one of Sherman's corps
commanders, and Secretary of the Interior under Grant.
I got back Thursday and that night we went to our farewell dinner at
the Storers; Rudyard Kipling & his wife were there; he is a pleasant little
man, bright, nervous, voluble, rather underbred. I could not help sparring
with him a little.
On Friday Edith went for three days to the Tylers, while I take care of
the blessed bunnies. They are too sweet for anything.
On Friday I dined at the Shoreham with the nice Stewards, and amusing
Hammy Robb.
I am just starting for my morning ride with Cabot. Your loving brother
433
524 • TO JOSEPH HAMBLEN SEARS RoOS6Velt
Washington, March 14, 1895
My Dear Sir: 1 Many thanks for the check. I know you are very busy, but
may I ask if you received the two letters in which I explained that I wanted
the stories published on or before October ist, as the book which is to con-
tain them will appear about the middle of October?2 I also asked if you
wanted the fifth and sixth stories written. If you do, I thought I would give
you Stonewall Jackson's death, and the Charge at Gettysburg. I have an
article on Farragut, but it turned out to be too long for your purpose.
Faithfully yours
5 2 5 • TO CHARLES HENRY PARKHURST Roosevelt
Personal Washington, March 19, 1895
My Dear Dr. Parkhurst: I was very much pleased at receiving your letter,
and earnestly hope you will soon see Excise Commissioner Murray. Murray
is not an educated man. He worked his way up from the ranks; but I don't
have to ask you, who are so well accustomed to looking beneath the surface
at the general heart of things, to take this into account. I received a letter
from Murray the other day in answer to an exhortation of mine about the
civil service law, which pleased me greatly. In it he said he had but one
purpose in view, and that was to deserve the good will of decent citizens by
giving a thoroughly honest and upright administration of his office, and that
the people who had backed him for the position Jiad made but one request
from him, and that was to administer the laws exactly, and only with refer-
ence to the welfare of the community. Permit me to tell you, although I
should prefer not to have the fact published, one of the reasons why I have
been so staunch a friend of Murray. He represents that large wing of the
Catholic Church with which I have the utmost sympathy, the wing which
is liberalized and Americanized, and is always the object of the inveterate
hostility of the ultramontane section. Murray is a staunch upholder of the
public schools. He has always sent his own children to them, and has refused
to allow them to go to the parochial schools. He is an ardent opponent, and
tdways has been, of any effort to use State money in aid of any sectarian
institution. When in the legislature I was the chief opponent of the bill giving
an appropriation to the Catholic Protectory. Many of the Catholics, includ-
ing almost all the priests of my district, stoutly assailed me for this. Murray
stood by me manfully. Though a strong Republican, he openly announced
1 Joseph Hamblen Sears, editor of Harper's Young People.
3 Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, Hero Tales from American History
(New York, 1895; Nat. Ed. X).
434
his emphatic approval of Mayor Hewitt's course in refusing to allow the
Irish flag to be floated over City Hall, stating that when a Democrat took
that stand he was going to support him; yet he is himself an Irishman by
birth (though he was brought to New York when he was only a little over
a year old). Last year he was one of those Catholics who took a prominent
part in breaking down the effort to persuade the Catholic voters that they
should support Grant against Strong for fear of there being A. P. A. influ-
ence on the Republican and citizens' side.
So much for some of the reasons why I sympathize with Murray, from
the standpoint of American citizenship. I think I mentioned to you that he
was the clerk of Cities to young Ernest Crosby, the son of Dr. Howard
Crosby, when Ernest Crosby was in the legislature; and Crosby found, as I
had found, that he was to be implicitly trusted. Dr. Howard Crosby was
one of those who urged Mayor Grace to have him appointed Excise Com-
missioner. Murray does not always prepossess people at first sight. He is a
rugged fellow, who has had to battle hard in life ever since the days when,
as a mere boy, he served in the Union Army; and, like a good many men
I know, he sometimes permits his dislike of cant to lead him to the opposite
extreme and make him anxious to say much less on behalf of virtue than he
intends to do; but I believe that you will find him active and zealous in the
effort to give a good administration of the Excise office, and that any sug-
gestions from you, either as to concrete instances or general measures, will
be met by him with an earnest desire to forward your wishes. He feels, as
all of us do, that you have a peculiar right to be heard on any question of
civic morality in New York. Faithfully yours
526 • TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Quigg MSS.
Washington, March 19, 1895
My Dear Quigg: It seems to me, from all I can find out, that the bill to
remodel our public school system in New York is most necessary.1 The
present system I fear may soon break down entirely and discredit the entire
theory of non-sectarian public schools. The men who have most carefully
studied the matter earnestly advocate this bill. I wish you could see them if
you are in any doubt about the matter before throwing your great influence
against the measure, which seems to me to be one of the most important
before the legislature.
It was a great pleasure to have Mrs. Quigg and her sister at dinner, and
to have you even for such a short time. Faithfully yours
1 The bill to remodel the public school system, an important measure in the reform
program, increased the power of the mayor in the administration of the public
schools. Out of hostility to Strong, Platt opposed the bill.
435
527 • TO LEVI PARSONS MORTON RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, March 19, 1895
My Dear Governor Morton: Permit me to call your attention to the bill to
remodel the public school system of New York. To my mind no bill before
the legislature, not the police bill 1 or any other, is as important as this. The
condition of our public schools is very bad, and this does give a chance to
put them on a permanently better footing. I do not know whether you will
be able to give this bill a lift or not, but you have rendered such invaluable
service to the cause of decent government in New York this winter that I
venture to call your attention to it. Very faithfully yours
P. S. Private
In the very improbable event of a war with Spain I am going to beg you
with all my power to do me the greatest favor possible; get me a position in
New York's quota of the force sent out. Remember, I make application now.
I was three years captain in the 8th Regiment N. Y. State militia, and I must
have a commission in the force that goes to Cuba! But of course there won't
be any war.
528 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS MattheWS
Washington, March 19, 1895
Dear Brander: I am delighted to hear that your daughter is all well again. I
was sure nothing had happened, because I hadn't heard. Mrs. Roosevelt will
be as pleased as I am.
Kipling's last story was first-rate, as indeed all of his animal stories are.
I don't myself think he is much of a success when he deals with city life,
whether in London or elsewhere. I haven't had a chance to see much of him
here. Every now and then he can't resist making a raid on things American.
When I get to know him better I shan't mind this, but at present I cannot
resist the temptation to take a fall out of him. I think we would probably
have gotten along better if I had met him first under your auspices.
Lodge and I have nearly finished our Hero Tales From American His-
tory. I think that your Poems of American Patriotism ought to be issued
copy for copy with our book as a missionary tract. Yours faithfully
1The Bipartisan Police Bill, which ultimately became law, was a favorite measure
of Cornelius Bliss, Warner Miller, and Elihu Root. The bill provided for a four-
man bipartisan police commission in New York City which was to exercise con-
trol over appointments and promotions in the force. Authority over examinations
was transferred from the Civil Service Board to the Police Commission. The bill
also added to the powers of the chief, giving him control over assignments of duty,
including the protection of the polls on election days. A filial important provision
made retirement after twenty-five years of service automatic on application, per-
mitting many officers who had lost reputation because of the Lexow revelations
to leave the force quickly and gracefully.
436
529 ' TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Quigg
Washington, March 25, 1895
My Dear Quigg: I send you, thinking you might not have seen it, the report
of the sub-committee of the Committee of Seventy on the public school
system. Of the five men signing it I know four. One, Henry L. Sprague, is
an old friend of mine, as good a Republican as you or myself. OUn1 is the
man that knows most about the subject. He is, I am sorry to say, a mug-
wump and an admirer of Godkin, and I would not trust him a moment on
any question of foreign affairs or the like; but he is not at all the mere
impractical mugwump. He has studied this thing faithfully and honestly. He
has a horror and dread of Tammany Hall, and while his plan would not
insure the schools being kept free from Tammany influences if we got back
under Tammany rule, it would not be any worse in this direction than any
other system, and in point of efficiency would be an infinite improvement
on it. Under the present system we can't, even if we have a good city gov-
ernment, get a good administration of the public schools. Under the pro-
posed bill we could, and even under a bad administration it would not be
as futile as at present. I look at this matter a little from the political stand-
point also. I am very anxious that our legislature shall do well and shall make
a good record. On the police commission bill there seems to be a hopeless
split, and I do not suppose anything in particular can be done; so that from
a very large number of men who are not mugwumps at all, but Republicans,
who hoped a great deal from our election last fall there is going to be a good
deal of criticism. Now, I would like to be able to point to some definite
measures of reform which we have accomplished. This seems to me to be
one bill that we ought to take up for that reason.
Hoping soon to see you, I am, Faithfully yours
530 • TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Qwgg M.SS.
Washington, March 26, 1895
My Dear Quigg: Your letter was a great surprise to me. It had not occurred
to me that you would really press my name upon the mayor.1 1 think I had
better not take the position. A year hence I would like to take an active part
in the presidential campaign, and I could not well do that as Police Commis-
sioner, and until a year hence I really ought to be here to complete some
work I am now at. I am greatly touched by your thinking of me. I wish the
mayor would adopt your views about the two appointments, and let you
name some other man instead of me for the second. It would seem to me
that Fred Grant was just the right man for the first.
Again heartily thanking you, I am, Faithfully yours
1 Stephen Henry Olin, chairman of the sub-committee on public schools.
1 Roosevelt had told Quigg that he would like to be police commissioner.
437
531 -TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Quigg MSS.
Telegram Washington, April i, 1895
Tomorrow Tuesday afternoon five o'clock Lodge will be at Brunswick
hotel. Wish greatly you could call on him. Very grateful for your interest.
Am doubtful. Lodge will explain.
532 • TO FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER Turner
Washington, April 2, 1895
Dear Sir:1 It is not ordinarily my habit to write to reviewers, but your
review of my volumes was so interesting and suggestive that I cannot resist
trying to get into communication with you. One difficulty I have met with
is that only a few people know enough of the subject concerning which I
wrote to treat of it at all, whether critically or otherwise; and of course
your review shows you to be thoroughly conversant with the time. I was
not able to use the Draper manuscripts for my first two volumes, for the
excellent reason that the good old Dr. Draper was then alive and would not
let me nor anyone else look at anything he had gathered. He was immensely
put out when I was able to get copies of his originals, or originals of his
copies, having the real antiquarian desire to hoard his information. Of the
Yazoo land claims I thought I would treat altogether in my fourth volume,
but after reading your criticism I am inclined to think that I did not put
enough stress upon the proceedings of the different land companies. They
doubtless had a very considerable indirect effect, but their direct effect
seemed generally so small that I thought that I would treat of them in a
general way and make extended references only to two, the Ohio Company
and the Yazoo Company. In the last volume but one of the proceedings of
the American Historical Society there is an article on the Yazoo claims.
You interest me greatly by your allusion to the description of the land
companies in the Canadian archives. Would it be trespassing too much upon
your kindness to ask where I can find this?
Hoping soon to make a more definite acquaintance with you, I have the
honor to be, Very sincerely yours
533 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, April 3, 1895
Dear Cabot: I received a strong appeal from Douglas to take the Police Com-
missionership if offered me. I do not know that there is much need of dis-
cussing the matter now, for I suppose the Mayor has settled on somebody
Roosevelt addressed this letter to "the Author of the Review of the Winmng of
the West? published anonymously in the Nation. Turner had written the review.
1 Lodge, I, 141-142.
438
else. A week ago he would have offered it to me if I had been willing to
take it. Still, I wish you would see Douglas and talk the matter over with
him and talk the matter over with Strong too. The average New Yorker of
course wishes me to take it very much. I don't feel much like it myself, but
of course I realize that it is a different kind of position from that of Street
Cleaning Commissioner, and one I could perhaps afford to be identified with.
Murray writes me that there is nothing in the talk of my being Chairman
of the Commission. You know as well as I do, and indeed I think you feel as
much as I do, the arguments for and against my being Police Commissioner.
You are on the ground, and do talk it over with Douglas and the Mayor; it
is an important thing for me and if I ought to take it I must do so soon. It is
very puzzling! Faithfully yours
534 • TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Quigg M.SS.
Telegram Washington, April 3, 1895
Lodge will see you and tell you. I will accept subject to honorable condi-
tions. Keep this strictly confidential.
535 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Matthe'WS
Washington, April 6, 1895
Dear Brander: I have come round to your way of looking at Kipling. When
one knows him it seems preposterous to mind anything he says about the
United States. He is both parochial and sensitive himself, and as there is
plenty that is parochial and sensitive about us he of course hits at it; but his
small peculiarities do not interfere with his being a very pleasant companion
as well as a writer of genius. It has been a great pleasure meeting him. Last
night he dined at my house, and I had Owen Wister, Rockhill and John Hay,
and a few others, to meet him.
By the way, I think Owen Wister's last piece, "The Second Missouri
Compromise," is capital.
Give my warm regards to your wife and to your daughter, who I hope
is now entirely recovered.
I shall be on about the middle of May, and shall then look you up of
course. One of the things that I especially like about Kipling is that he seems
almost as fond of you as I am. Yoztrs
536 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.Q
Washington, April 7, 1895
Darling Bye, The cold weather lasted until the end of this week, but now it
really seems that Spring has come. Cabot and Nannie have been in New
439
York; and we have missed them much. The Brooks Adams1 have been here,
both very pleasant; we dined with them last evening.
On Friday Dan Wister was in town, and I gave him a dinner; the other
guests were Kipling, Tom Page, John Hay, Austin Wadsworth, Merriam,
Rockhill and Proctor. It was the pleasantest dinner of the winter, if I was
the host, and they stayed until one. All got on beautifully, and the stories,
discussions and all were as entertaining as possible. Wister and Kipling were
at their best; Kipling in particular, who is certainly a genius, and who has
been exceptionally well behaved ever since our rough-and-tumble the first
night.
This afternoon we are going to take the children out for their weekly
scramble up Rock Creek; which has become quite a feature, as divers other
children usually turn up to take part in it. I'll drag Kermit and Ethel on the
buckboard, and leave them to pick flowers with Edie, while I clamber over
the rocks with the others; I have a rope for the steeper cliffs!
I have been working like a beaver in my office and at my books; my
work is very attractive, but it does keep me busy. Your own brother
537 • TO FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER Turner MSS.
Washington, April 10, 1895
My Dear Mr. Turner: It was a great pleasure to me to find that you were
my reviewer. I can assure you I am not at all sensitive to intelligent criticism,
and I entirely agree with you as to there being new fields for research in
Western history upon which I haven't even touched. Take the two great
points to which you are devoting yourself, the reaction of the West upon
the East, and the history of institutions; the former of these I scarcely touch
upon, and shall scarcely touch upon at all. The latter I shall touch upon but
slightly, and hardly at all in the fourth volume. My aim is especially to
show who the frontiersmen were and what they did, as they gradually con-
quered the West. The very interesting question of county as opposed to
township government, for instance, I shall hardly more than allude to. Every
man has his own limitations and his own special capacities. While I have
been a government officer in various positions, ranging from Assemblyman
in New York and Civil Service Commissioner in Washington to Deputy
Sheriff in North Dakota, I have always been more interested in the men
themselves than in the institutions through and under which they worked.
Of course I understand entirely that you can't possibly treat of one without
treating 'of the other more or less, but you can lay particular stress upon
one or the other matter.
I was very much struck with your pamphlet. I hope you will write a
1 Brooks Adams, brother of Henry and Charles Francis, married Evelyn Davis, the
sister of Mrs. Henry Cabot Lodge. In this year he published his Law of Civilization
and Decay, an Essay on History (New York, 1895)
440
serious work on the subject. I know of no one so well qualified for the task.
In my next volume I hope to bring the history of the frontier down to past
the Louisiana purchase and the explorations by which that purchase was
made known to us; but I am not certain exactly how far I shall be able to go.
By the way, if I may bother you again, could you tell me where is the
best summing up of the county and township systems, and of the queer,
mixed systems of parts of the West?
I am very much obliged to you for your references to the Canadian
Archives. It always seemed to me, though I may very possibly be mistaken,
that the land companies were more important on paper and in the amount
of interest and discussion they excited at the time than in their genuine
effects, and it was because of this that I paid comparatively so little heed to
them. The Ohio Company was important, but generally it seemed to me as
though the land companies gave rise to an immense amount of correspond-
ence which was preserved as State papers, and the like, but that the real
importance of the movement came in the settlers themselves, whose habits
of thought, modes of life, and systems of government left their mark
stamped deep on the ground; while the traces left by the land companies
were comparatively few.
By the way, I must get my friend Thwaites1 to tell me somebody in
Madison by whom I can have your Fallon papers copied, or at least as many
of them as are necessary. I am a very busy man, and it is awfully difficult for
me to get away. I want to finish my fourth volume, because it will round
up at any rate one part of my work. I would then like to go on with the
whole subject, concluding with the War with Mexico, by which we reached
our present boundaries, except Alaska; but whether I can ever do this or not
I don't know. I certainly can't until I get entirely out of political life; a
move I am strongly tempted to make. Sincerely yours
[Handwritten] P.S. I am glad you did'n't write the "grandiloquent &
immoral" sentence.
I do'n't quite agree with you as to the unity of the west. It was a unit
as against the east, and was not split by the north & south division of the
east; but there was not a very great cohesion of the parts, as it seems to me.
538 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Washington, April 14, 1895
Darling Bye, Your letter, with the clipping, came at a very appropriate
moment. Strong first offerred me the position of Police Commissioner
through a third party, and I refused. He then offerred it to me again, di-
rectly. By this time I had received numerous requests to accept; Cabot and
Douglas both much wishing I should; and I have accepted subject to getting
1 Reuben Gold Thwaites, secretary and superintendent of the State Historical
Society of Wisconsin.
441
decent colleagues; but it is not yet final, for I have not heard in response
from the Mayor.
I hated to leave Washington, for I love the life; and I shall have, if I go,
much hard work, and I will hardly be able to keep on with my literary mat-
ters. Moreover it is a position in which it is absolutely impossible to do what
will be expected of me; the conditions will not admit it. I must make up my
mind to much criticism and disappointment.
But on the other hand, I am nearly through what I can do here; and
this is a good way of leaving a position which I greatly like but which I do
not wish permanently to retain, and I think it a good thing to be definitely
identified with my city once more. I would like to do my share in govern-
ing the city after our great victory; and so far as may be I would like once
more to have my voice in political matters. It was a rather close decision;
but on the whole I felt I ought to go, though it is "taking chances."
We have just returned from our usual Sunday afternoon scramble, taken
with a large assortment of friends. Your loving brother
539 • TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Quigg M.SS.
Washington, April 17, 1895
My Dear Quigg: You are so good I hate to bother you again. I must tell you
that the Mayor has just told me that he wants me to take office about the
first of May, up to which time it is to be kept quiet, and has assured me that
the two colleagues he appoints to serve with me will be first-class men,
gentlemen with whom I can heartily co-operate.
Do tell me what it is the reorganized Lexow bill is apt to do. I was a
good deal relieved to hear from you that there was no chance of its legislat-
ing me out of office or completely tying my hands; but I would like to
know what changes for the worse, if any, it makes in my position, or is apt
to make. What about this new bill giving the Supt. of Police nearly com-
plete power? 1
Thanking you heartily, Faithfully yours
540 • TO WILLIAM LAFAYETTE STRONG RoOSCVelt
Washington, April 18, 1895
Dear Sir: Many thanks for your note. I am quite content to accept your
assurance that my two colleagues, Democrat and Republican alike, will be
'The Ainsworth Bill, or Supplemental Police Bill, changed the title of Chief of
Police to Superintendent of Police and greatly increased the power of the office.
Designed to improve efficiency and discipline, the bill gave the superintendent com-
plete authority to try all cases of charges against members of the force. Removable
only if proved inefficient, the superintendent was given virtually independent au-
thority. Chief of Police Byrnes was an ardent supporter of the measure. The com-
missioners, however, led by Roosevelt, voiced their unanimous disapproval. Largely
on their recommendation Mayor Strong vetoed the bill, which was not passed over
his veto. r
first-rate men, gentlemen, with whom I can join heartily in endeavoring to
do my part toward making your administration a complete success. I shall
make my arrangements to come on to New York about the first of May;
1 may have to be three or four days late, if the President demands more
time. I gather that you want me to begin my duties at that time, or within a
day or two. I shall inform the President now, and will do my best to keep
it out of the papers. There may be some little difficulty about this, however,
from the mere fact that it will be difficult to prevent people seeing that I
am making preparations to leave; and though they won't know where I am
going to, they may suspect. Faithfully yours
541 'TO GROVER CLEVELAND Cleveland Mss.
Washington, April 20, 1895
My Dear Mr. President: In accordance with your request to suggest to you
the names of one or two Republicans, if you wish to put one in as my suc-
cessor, I would like to call to your attention Bellamy Storer, of Cincinnati,
and William F. Wharton, of Boston. Storer is the ideal man for the place if
he would take it. He has just finished his second term in Congress, and was
beaten for the renomination by a piece of dirty political trickery. He was
the only Congressman of either party from Ohio who voted in favor of the
gold bond issue. He is a man of great ability and of singular sweetness and
strength of character, a thoroughly practical man, a sincere and firm be-
liever in the law, and one of good standing in his party and with all inde-
pendent men. His appointment would be a fairly ideal one if he would
take it.
Wharton is also an excellent man. He is the law partner of your Marshal
for Massachusetts, Mr. Swift. He was formerly First Assistant Secretary of
State, and is a high-minded, conscientious, hardworking gentleman. If I
think of anyone else I will let you know at once. Very sincerely yours
542 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT Cobles MSS.Q
Washington, April 21, 1895
Darling Bye, Indeed I should like above all things to be able to pay you a
short visit this summer, and to see some of the Englishmen whom I should
really like to see, under the guidance of yourself and Rosy. I am much
amused to learn of the reputation my hunting books have.
As I wrote you, Cabot is much exercised in mind lest you should not be
in London on July loth; he is bent on liking, and being liked, and seeing the
people of note, while he is in London.
We really enjoyed the Johny Stewards' visit to Washington.
I have seen the President, and resigned; and unless something unforeseen
happens I shall go on to New York to take office in a week or two. We feel
very melancholy at leaving here, where we have passed six such very happy
443
years: but I feel very sure I am right in going back to my own city, to stay
among my own people; and I shall not be disappointed, whatever the out-
come, for I fully realize the dangers, and the disagreeable features of the
work and the life. Corinne and Douglas are here, and it is so lovely to see
them. Your own brother
543 • TO GROVER CLEVELAND Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 25, 1895
Sir: Herewith I have the honor to tender my resignation as Civil Service
Commissioner to take effect on May 5th, (in accordance with the conversa-
tion we had.)
I have now been in office almost exactly six years, a little over two years
of the time under yourself; and I leave with the greatest reluctance. Only
the feeling that just at this time I have no right to refuse Mayor Strong's
request that I do what I can to help him in the administration of the City
of New York induces me to go. It is a genuine pleasure to be able to say that
the work of the Commission is now progressing so well, and its position is
established on so firm a basis, that I feel there is no doubt as to the future of
the cause. During my term of office I have seen the classified service grow
to more than double the size that it was six years ago. There have been halt-
ings and shortcomings, here and there, but as a whole the improvement in
the administration of the law has kept pace steadily with the growth of the
classified service, (itself) Year by year the (administration of the) law has
(become more and more satisfactory,) been better executed, taking the serv-
ice as a whole, and in spite of occasional exceptions in (occasional) certain
offices and bureaus. Since you yourself took office this time (over «ten»)
nearly six thousand positions have been put into the classified service, and
by the sweeping reduction you made last fall in the number of excepted
places you worked (one of the) a most valuable reforms (possible) in the
execution of the law itself. I wish to thank you warmly for tie courtesy and
consideration with which you have always treated me individually, and to
assure you that it has been a pleasure to me to serve on the Commission
under you. («and» to carry out your desire as to the extension of the law.)1
Again thanking you for your courtesy, I am, Very sincerely yours
1 There have been two traditional views of Roosevelt's work on the Civil Service
Commission. One suggests, in the words of Lucius Swift, that upon the arrival of
Roosevelt, "a man who knew the value of a blow between the eyes, order began
to appear out of chaos. . . . Senators and representatives went staggering from a
contact with the Commission." The other view holds that Roosevelt's loud public
clamor served to conceal the absence of real accomplishment. It is possible that both
assessments are extreme. The letters of the period indicate that the commission took
useful and effective action on a good many occasions to improve specific unfortunate
situations. Credit to Roosevelt should be given also for two general contributions.
He publicized, by his actions as well as his speeches and articles, both the work
and the need for civil service reform. In the critical experimental period of the com-
mission this was an important contribution. In addition, he administered his office
with an energy and efficiency that did much to overcome the inertia of a badly
designed piece of administrative machinery.
444
544 " TO AVERY DE LANO ANDREWS Andrews Mss.
Washington, April 25, 1895
My Dear Sir: 1 No letter could have given me greater pleasure than yours.
When the Mayor asked me to take the place first I refused, and when I
finally accepted I told him that I felt that I must have colleagues with whom
I could work; that with you I was sure I could join in doing my best for the
city's welfare, and that the other two men should be men of your character
and stamp. I need not say how heartily I agree in your view that the mem-
bers of the Board should be united, and that the affairs of the Department
should be administered solely with a view to the interests of the public. I
am, as I always have been and expect to remain, a staunch Republican, but
that has not interfered with me, as Civil Service Commissioner, working in
absolute harmony with such Democratic colleagues as ex-Governor Thomp-
son of South Carolina, and the present President of the Commission, Mr.
Proctor, an ex-Confederate soldier from Kentucky. We never had a differ-
ence on any question of principle or policy, and I am very sure, my dear sir,
that you and I will be able to make the same record.
Again thanking you most heartily, I am, Faithfully yours
545 'TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Quigg M.SS.
Washington, April 26, 1895
My Dear Quigg: It is an outrage for me to bother you in the midst of your
own great fight for decency, but I know no one else in New York to whom
I can write for information.
I do not understand about the new police acts; the bipartisan act, which
has passed, and the police reorganization act, which will pass apparently.
The Sun this morning has a statement that under the bipartisan act die Mayor
will have to appoint as Republicans whoever the County Committee of the
Republican party nominates. Of course I take it for granted that this is
untrue, and that the Mayor, whether under the new act or under the present
one, can appoint whom he wishes.1 Is this so? Again, will the other act make
a very serious difference in my powers and capacity should it pass? I am
now of course between the devil and the deep sea, as I have definitely re-
signed this position, and I don't want to find myself hopelessly adrift. Just
get your typewriter to send me a line in answer to these two questions.
Faithfully yours
1Avery De Lano Andrews, police commissioner of New York City, 1895-1897;
kter lieutenant colonel in the United States Volunteers during the Spanish-American
War; adjutant general of New York and chief of staff to Governor Roosevelt, 1899.
1 Roosevelt was correct.
445
5 4 6* • TO FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER Turner Mss.
Washington, April 26, 1895
My Dear Prof. Turner: I don't think after all that our views as to the funda-
mental unity of the Westerners differ widely. I have been thinking over the
matter a good deal since receiving your letter, and I really think it is more
that we lay emphasis upon different points. I have incorporated some of
your remarks (with acknowledgement) into a chapter I am writing. I think
that there was so much separatist feeling in the West that it caused indiffer-
ence in one community to another; but in type the men were the same. Very
sincerely yours
547 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CO'WleS MsS.°
Washington, April 27, 1895
Darling Bye, Poor Tilden Selmes is in a hospital in Baltimore, dying of
cancer of the liver. He will soon go back to St. Paul; he was put under the
knife, that the doctors might definitely find out the truth. Mrs. Selmes is
heartbroken; she has not been able to see us since his doom was told. It is
terrible for her. Edith and I have been over there three or four times; and
Corinne went with us.
It was lovely having Corinne and Douglas here. Corinne is so good to
Maud! Douglas stayed at the Lodges, and was too funny for anything with
Nannie. We all dined there Sunday night, and they with us Monday; on
the last occasion there was also Willie Chanler, who was delightful about
his African experiences.
The Leiter wedding went off in fine style, and really in very good taste.1
They seem much in love with one another. On Thursday they came back
from a very brief honeymoon, and stopped a day on their way to New
York. Curzon wrote to two or three men, including myself, to call in the
afternoon; and he and she were both very pleasant. He is an interesting
fellow, and with a good measure of ability.
Just here a cable arrived from Turin to say that Edith's mother is dead.
It was a terrible shock to Edith, and has fairly broken her down. We know
no particulars, but suppose Emily will come home at once. Your loving
brother
P.S. Now that your property is sold I must look up my rights on the
beach. I do'n't want to share that strip of beach with anyone but you; and
the beach near Uncle Jimmie is much poorer.
1 Mary Leiter, daughter of Levi Z. Leiter, Chicago merchant and partner of Marshall
Field, married George Nathaniel Curzon. At the wedding the bride's father startled
all Washington society by bravely leaping across his daughter's long train when he
found himself on the wrong side of her.
446
548 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT SlVlft M.SS.
Washington, April 27, 1895
Dear Mr. Swift: No letter that I have received about my change to New
York has pleased me as much as yours, for you are the only correspondent
who has understood how I felt about the Civil Service Commission here. I
have for six years given all my energy and all my heart to the work. I can
honestly say that I think I have accomplished something, and that the cause
has made during those six years far more progress from the moral than even
from the material side, though the latter, as shown by the figures in the
increase of the classified service, themselves, is sufficiently great. Now, I
entirely share your belief that the Commission must not be dependent upon
any one man. In the first place, I think the whole spirit of the Commission
has changed. Mr. Proctor has been on with me a year and a half. He is as
high-minded and upright a man as I ever met, and our methods and desires
are identical. I know that he will continue the work when I am gone pre-
cisely as he and I have carried it on while I was here. I can't help believing
that any new appointee or appointees will do the same. I am continually
receiving letters from men who say that they don't see how the Commission
will get along without me; that I am essential to it, etc. In the first place no
man is essential. There are always plenty to fill his place; and secondly, I
think it unhealthy to encourage a feeling that a given man is all important.
As for what I can do in New York I confess I feel rather doubtful. The
legislature has refused to pass the police bills which it ought to have passed,
and I haven't any certain knowledge of how much power I will have. Of
course very much depends also upon who my colleagues are. Then I fear
that the reformers, in following the lead of Dr. Parkhurst, may expect too
much. There are certain evils which I fear cannot possibly be suppressed in
a city like New York in our present stage of existence. I shall do my best to
find out how to minimize them and make them least offensive, but more
than this I fear cannot be done. As for my own course, I am, as you know,
in national matters a strong Republican, and differ from most civil service
reformers, I think, in being an advocate of a vigorous foreign policy; but as
Police Commissioner I am sure I do not have to say that I will be quite in-
capable of considering any question of politics in the execution of my duty,
whether in the appointment or removal of a man, or in the adoption of a
line of policy.
Pray remember me warmly to Mrs. Swift, and again let me thank you
heartily and sincerely for your letter, which I shall keep. Always very truly
yours
[Handwritten] P. S. Mrs. Roosevelt was particularly pleased with your
letter, and sends her cordial remembrances.
447
549 ' T0 jrosoN GRENELL Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 29, 1895
Sir: I have the honor to answer your letter of April 25, in relation to the
civil service examination taken by you for assistant statistician in the Depart-
ment of Agriculture.
The Commission cannot spend its time in answering questions asked
from mere curiosity. If it should tell every applicant the averages of all other
applicants in an examination it would need to have an additional force of
clerks for that purpose; but we are always glad to give to the press any
facts which may be of general interest. As I now understand that what you
wish is for publication in a newspaper, I take pleasure in giving you the
averages of the other candidates.
Twelve persons entered the examination. Of these six obtained an eligible
standing, with grades, disregarding fractions, of 90, 86, 86, 80, 80, and 76
respectively. Six failed, with grades of 67, 60, 57, 44, and 42. Among the 12
examined there was only one who stood lower than you, your standing
being a fraction less than 44.
Permit me, in the first place, to correct the misapprehension you are
under as to the rising tide of public opinion being that the examinations
prescribed are more theoretical than practical. I think that if you would
look at the returns in the late Chicago city election, or in the New York
City election last fall, you would speedily convince yourself that there was
no such rising tide. Chicago voted, by fifty thousand majority, for a civil
service law in many respects more drastic than the Federal law, and the
people of New York State adopted, by more than one hundred thousand
majority, a radical provision in the Constitution widely extending the appli-
cation of the civil service law, and establishing its permanency.
You say that there is a growing contempt for the civil service law. My
experience is directly the opposite, and I am positive that the contempt of
which you speak exists only in the minds of the very ignorant, and that
these very ignorant are less numerous, so far as this subject is concerned,
than they were only a few years ago, and grow less numerous year by year.
So far from "surrounding inefficiency with a net-work of officialism,"
the law has immensely benefited every office to which it has been applied.
The slightest inquiry will satisfy you of the truth of the statement. The
Railway Mail service is at a higher point of efficiency than ever before, and
it is precisely the branch of the Government in which the law has been most
rigidly applied. When that service came under the civil service law in 1889,
the record of correct ratings was 2,834 to one; f°r the year 1894, lt *s 7$3l
to one. This record is unprecedented in the history of the service. As a mat-
ter of practical experience, every Cabinet officer whom I have seen in Wash-
ington has, before the end of his term, come to the conclusion that if there
was any bureau in which he needed special efficiency, he had to put it under
448
the civil service law. Mr. Carroll D. Wright1 recently stated to me that the
failure to classify the Census Office under the law had cost the Government
just about two million dollars. The post offices where the law is most faith-
fully observed are precisely the offices where the best service is rendered to
the public and where the employes are most able, courteous, and efficient.
The men who pass the examinations are, ninety-nine times out of a hundred,
those most capable of filling the positions "demanding the exercise of com-
mon sense and experience,"
You say that "a glance at the papers prepared for the examination proved
the impossibility of my (your) attaining a sufficiently high average to pass.
Indeed, I (you) feel sure the Civil Service Commissioners themselves could
not pass, and I (you) know that two-thirds of the present members of the
President's Cabinet would 'fall down' in the attempt." Evidently you do not
understand the purpose of holding special examinations for special places.
When we hold an examination for assistant statistician our aim is to get a
man who is an assistant statistician, not one who is a Civil Service Commis-
sioner or a Cabinet Officer. It would be a proof of the incompetency of the
Commission if it framed an examination for assistant statistician with a view
of having Cabinet Officers and Civil Service Commissioners pass it. The
Commission holds examinations for all kinds of positions. For instance, we
hold them for the position of assistant astronomer. Do you mean seriously
to imply that when we hold an examination for astronomer we should make
that examination one which the average Cabinet Officer could pass? It
would be a mere chance if any member of any Cabinet was fit to be an
astronomer, or, for that matter, an assistant statistician. I do not suppose
that any member of the present Cabinet, or of the Cabinet of Mr. Harrison,
would be fit for either of these positions. I know that no member of either
Cabinet would be as fit for a statistician as the man \vho was appointed under
the assistant statistician examination. In your own case, as you bring the
matter up, your examination showed that you were entirely unfit to hold
the office you sought. Doubtless you are an admirable newspaper editor and
you may be fit for much higher work than that of an assistant statistician,
but you are not fit for the particular work, and the Commission would have
been to blame if it had framed an examination which would not have empha-
sized the difference between the man who was competent to be an assistant
statistician and one who was not competent, no matter how good this latter
individual might be in some other line of work.
You say the questions are not practical, and instance one of the questions
in reference to a geometrical problem as having no relation to the subject
matter in hand. This shows that you do not understand what the work of
an assistant statistician really is. As a matter of fact, many statistics are illus-
trated by geometrical figures and problems. This is the case with the work
1 Carroll Davidson Wright, statistician and social economist, Commissioner of the
United States Bureau of Labor.
449
now actually performed by the assistant statistician in the Department of
Agriculture. So you see that the question was all right. It was your lack of
understanding of the subject which was to blame.
You say that a boy fresh from a high school could get 80 to 90 to his
credit, and that anyone could cram him up so as to pass after a fortnight's
work. Again you are completely in error. The average age of those passing
our examinations is 27 years. Instead of being fresh from the high schools,
the men have been out of them at least ten years on the average. The man
who stood at the head of the list in the examination you took, and who re-
ceived the appointment, was 43 years old and was already a computer in the
U. S. Coast Survey. Remember that you are only theorizing on the subject,
I am speaking from a thorough acquaintance with the facts of the case. As
a matter of fact, the persons who get office under us stand higher in every
way than those appointed under the old methods and form an exceptionally
intelligent, honest, and able class of employees. In our own bureau, we have
more than fifty men employed. They all came in under our own examina-
tions, standing at the head of the lists, and it would be impossible to get, in
public or private employment, a better corps of men than they are.
None of the men who were coached for this examination passed. I have
given you the particulars about the man who stood highest. The man who
stood second was 38 years old, and had been a statistician in the Census
Bureau. The man who stood third was 26 years old, a postgraduate student
of Cornell University, and afterwards private secretary to a member of
Congress. The man who stood fourth was 24 years old, and was a Fellow in
Political Economy and Sociology of the Chicago University. The man who
stood fifth was 29, and was an accountant in New York. He had formerly
been an instructor in statistics in the University of Chicago.
You complain that the Commission is "wrapped up in formalism and
signs" because the letter you received had the initials of various persons put
upon it. Your saying this arises evidently from the fact that you have never
had any experience in conducting the business of a large office. The Civil
Service Commission receives and answers more than one hundred thousand
letters a year, and the slightest consideration will show you that we must
have a regular system in dealing with so extensive a correspondence.
You ask what warrant has anybody for thinking that the person selected
had the highest average or even passed at all. You have the excellent warrant
that as soon as the man is appointed, the fact is made public, and any respon-
sible person may learn all the facts and see the markings if he can show the
Commission that there is the slightest ground for imputing favoritism one
way or the other. The name of every person appointed in the departmental
service is printed in the Commission's annual report; and the name of the
person who was appointed assistant statistician is Henry Farquhar. If any-
one has the slightest reason for thinking that he was favored in any way, the
Commission will show his papers; but as a matter of fact, such a supposition
450
is, of course, absurd. The papers were marked by a board of experts at the
same time that they marked the papers of the other applicants, and the exam-
iners did not know the names of any of the persons whose papers they were
marking. It may interest you to know that the Secretary of Agriculture
chose the highest man on the list, and informs us that he is the most satisfac-
tory man in statistical work that he ever had, and that after the appointment
had been made, he received a letter from Mr. Edward Atkinson vouching
for the remarkable capacity of the man in the very lines upon which we
tested him, and for the very business in which he was to be employed. The
Secretary of Agriculture said he thought he was the best man in the United
States for the position. You thus see that in this very examination of which
you complain, the man who passed the highest was the best man that could
have been found anywhere for the position. The examination was eminently
practical in character, and no man who failed to pass it could be considered
competent for the position.
There is no "shell separating the Commission from the outer world."
With one hundred thousand correspondents a year, it is a simple impossibil-
ity to gratify the curiosity of each, unless we can be assured that some public
interest is to be subserved. All that we do is perfectly open. The registers for
the ordinary positions are made public as soon as the papers are marked. In
the case of special examination, where there would be a chance of exercising
political pressure or personal favoritism, the'registers are not made public
until after the appointments have been made. Then the names and the aver-
ages will be given to any newspaper desiring to publish them.
The past year has witnessed greater progress toward the full accomplish-
ment of the reform idea in national, State, and municipal government, taken
as a whole, than any other year since the original law was passed. Very
respectfully
451
The Police Commission of the City
of New York
1895-1897
550 • TO CHARLES T. SAXTON Printed1
New York, May 10, 1895
My Dear Governor Saxton: In accordance with the unanimous protest of
the Board of Police Commissioners, the Mayor of New York has vetoed the
so-called Ainsworth Supplemental Police bill. The bill is so hopelessly vicious
and is so obviously drawn to perpetuate the worst and most corrupt abuses
that have flourished in this department, that I cannot believe that the Legis-
lature will pass it when once its true character is made clear. Not a single
citizen appeared before the Mayor to argue in its favor. It reduces the Com-
mission to a nullity, and in reality it establishes a single-headed commission,
a commissioner with the tide of "Chief," who shall have all the power and
none of the responsibility. Under the bill as drawn, no offender, no matter
how grave or criminal the charge against him may be, if he has a "pull" with
the Superintendent, can be touched; and the Commission would be power-
less to preserve discipline or to correct any abuses or punish the most fla-
grant corruption. We could not punish even offenders against the election
laws in the Police Department, so that the main purpose of the Bipartisan
bill would be completely nullified. The bill is simply a measure to perpetu-
ate and increase corruption in the Police Department, and to pass it would
be, I am frank to say, an act of scandalous iniquity.
I write to you because I know I can always appeal to you on grounds
of decent citizenship and of a sincere desire to benefit the Republican party.
Very truly yours
5 5 I • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed *
New York, May 12, 1895
Dear Cabot, Edith and I must send a line just to wish you many happy
returns of the day, and to give our best love to Nannie; you can not imagine
how dreadfully homesick we feel for you both; and how I wish I could see
you to talk over my difficulties! They are parochial, but pressing. I am in a
very wearing and harassing work; it is terribly hard to know what is best
and wisest to do. I enclose a nice note from Quigg (send it back). At the
Union League and Republican clubs my course seems to be heartily ap-
proved. As you supposed, Parkhurst is strongly Republican on national issues.
I had a very nice call on your mother. I told her I was so glad you were
going abroad, for the recreation; whereupon she answered, "Yes, my dear,
and for his education; he is very young, and was a mere boy when he was
last abroad." So I shall often think of you two tender young grandparents
*New York Tribune, May 13, 1895. Charles T. Saxton, an anti-machine Repub-
lican, Lieutenant Governor of New York, 1895-1896; judge, New York State Court
of Claims, 1898-1903.
1 Lodge, I, 142.
455
toddling round Europe to improve your juvenile minds. We just love her.
Yours
552 • TO ANXA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MSS.°
New York, May 13, 1895
Darling Bye, Here we are, and just as comfortable as possible, for Chamber-
lain takes the best possible care of us; and we are so very much obliged to
you, dearest Bye.
Emily is coming home about June ist; Mrs. Carow was buried in Turin.
Edith is gradually recovering her tone. Both Uncle Jim and Aunt Lizzie
have been very kind; and they are too amusingly wrapped up in local poli-
tics; they now despise the Evening Post because it sneers at the Park Board!
Bella has just come on to get Alice for her three weeks at Chestnut Hill.
I have never worked harder than in these last six days; and it is very
worrying and harassing, for I have to deal with three colleagues,1 solve
terribly difficult problems, and do my work under hampering laws. If the
Legislature will only give us power to remove our subordinates without
appeal to the courts I know we can make a thorough and radical reform;
without such power we can improve matters a good deal, but we cannot do
what we ought to. But I am absorbed in the work and am very glad I came
on. It is well worth doing. So far I get on well with my three colleagues. I
have rarely left the office until six in the evenings Yours always
553 • TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Qulgg
New York, May 17, 1895
My dear Qmgg: The fact that the Senatorial Committee failed to do its
duty, does not lighten our debt of obligation to you: You have made a most
valiant fight against corruption, and decent people owe you a debt of grati-
tude.
Now, in reference to the first great reform in this force and to the pos-
sible removal of the person of whom we spoke the other day; of course the
failure to pass the Reorganization Bill greatly complicates matters.1 I must
1 Roosevelt's three colleagues on the Police Commission were Frederick D. Grant,
Andrew D. Parker, and Avery D. Andrews.
1 Thomas F. Byrnes was the "person" in question. Even before the passage of the
Bipartisan Law, he had been the most powerful figure in the force. Coming up
through the ranks, he gained distinction on the way by his efficiency as head of the
Detective Bureau. While in that post he used an elaborate spy system in the under-
world and the third degree to secure many convictions — some of them on very little
evidence -for his 3300 arrests. Byrnes shunned the petty dishonesty of his contem-
poraries on the force, but he admitted that he had made $350,000 through Wall Street
'rips" from Jay Gould and other influential friends. Roosevelt objected to Byrnes's
intimacy with these men, to the sheltering of his criminal informants, his familiarity
with Tammany politicians, and his forceful, difficult personality. He forced Byrnes's
retirement, substituting Inspector Peter Conlin as chief.
456
see you soon to talk it over; meanwhile can you tell me how Elihu Root
stands to the individual in question? I am told he backs him up; this will
make no difference in my action, except that I wish to be prepared in ad-
vance. Faithfully yours
[Handwritten] On Monday I am to meet Parkhurst at dinner (keep this
private) so I can't be at the reception to you; I wish I could.
554 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, May 18, 1895
Dear Cabot: I should have written you earlier, but I have had more work on
my hands than you can imagine; on an average I have not left this office
until after six, and once I left it after eight. I hope in a fortnight when I
have grown warm in the collar I shall be able to get through my work
quicker.
It is absorbingly interesting; but you need not have the slightest fear
about my losing my interest in National Politics. If the Re-organization Bill
had only gone through, I would have had this force completely remodeled
in six months; and after that time, though I should have been interested in
it, and would have been very glad to have the work in default of any other,
yet its great interest for me would have gone. As it is now, I shall have a
lively and far from pleasant interest in the work all summer, for the diffi-
culties in getting a good force are immeasurably increased and the result
will necessarily be far more imperfect and the process much slower.
We shall have to try to get this legislation next year, which again will
keep me interested through the winter. If we don't get it next year the
chances are, we shall not get it at all, and in any event by the time we do
get it, if it is two years hence, most of the work will be done in some shape
or other; if we do get it, three months at that time will enable us to finish
the whole affair. So that in a couple of years or less I shall have finished the
work here for which I am specially fitted, and in which I take a special
interest. After that there will remain only the ordinary problems of decent
administration in the Department, which will be already in good running
order. I shall then be quite ready to take up a new job, if I think I can do it
better, or can accomplish more in it. While, if nothing offers itself, I shall
continue to do my work here; by that time all the big problems here will be
disposed of one way or the other, and I can put my hand on other things.
For the next six months I am going to be absorbed in the work here and
under a terrific strain; I have got to move against the scandals in this Depart-
ment, if my work is to be at all thorough; but my hands have been tied in
a large measure, thanks to the action of the legislature.
I shall not neglect the political side, you may be sure. With Quigg,
Brookfield and some of the others, I shall keep in close touch. I shall do my
1 Lodge, 1, 143-144. - -
457
best to keep out of faction fighting, but it will be difficult, for its perfectly
astounding to see how Platt succeeds in identifying himself with the worst
men and the worst forces in every struggle, so that a decent man must
oppose him.
I wrote to Ainsworth in a very hearty and friendly way.2 I won't be
able to do as much on the political side as I should wish, because I am so
completely absorbed by the work and struggle here, but I shall do what I
can, you may rest assured.
Edith is distinctly better; the children are well.
Give my best love to Nannie. You cannot imagine how I miss her and
you; and Edith is as homesick for you both as I am. Really, I have hardly
seen her and the children, I have been so busy. Ever yours
P.S. I think I shall move against Byrnes at once. I thoroughly distrust
him, and cannot do any thorough work while he remains. It will be a very
hard fight, and I have no idea how it will come out.
555 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS AdSS.°
New York, May 19, 1895
Darling Bye, You are too good, to have written Chamberlain that I can stay
here when in town this summer, as I so often must be; it will be a great con-
venience to me; I'll get my meals at the club, but it is much more comfortable
to be able to leave my clothes here.
I have never worked harder than during the last two weeks; I am down
town at nine, and leave the office at six — once at eight. The actual work is
hard; but far harder is the intense strain. I have the most important, and the
most corrupt, department in New York on my hands. I shall speedily assail
some of the ablest, shrewdest men in this city, who will be fighting for their
lives, and I know well how hard the task ahead of me is. Yet, in spite of the
nervous strain and worry, I am glad I undertook it; for it is a man's work.
But I have had to stop my fourth volume for the time.
Love to Rosy and Helen. Yours
556-TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, May 21, 1895
Dear Cabot: Brander Matthews told me yesterday that he thought it would
help our book if we had at the end a brief chronology, giving the chief
dates in the U. S. History; and also a list of authorities; that is, books of
reference for each chapter. These two could be put in a short list at the end
of the volume.
8Danforth E. Ainsworth, Republican assemblyman from Oswego, author of the
Supplemental Police Bill, upon learning of Roosevelt's opposition to his bill had
agreed to abandon the measure.
1 Lodge, 1, 144-145.
458
For Washington we could refer to your Life and for Lincoln to Morse's
Life, for Clark and Boone to my "Winning of the West," and for the
"Armstrong Privateer," "The Cruise of the Wasp," and the Battle of New
Orleans, to my "War of 1812," etc.
He says this would give it a much better chance among school teachers
and principals of academies. I don't know whether there is anything in this
idea; if there is, do you think you could prepare the two supplemental pages?
which would be about all there is necessary.
By the way, in spite of my absorption here, I have time to flame with
indignation over the antics of the administration in foreign affairs. Great
Britain's conduct about the seals is infamous. We should at once take her
action as a proof that she has abrogated the treaty and should ourselves treat
it as abrogated, and seize all Canadian sealers as pirates. Yours always
557 • TO SETH LOW Low Mss.
New York, May 29, 1895
My dear Low: I shall show your letter to my colleagues, whom I know it
will please. I had no doubt on the subject myself; it was absolutely necessary
that Byrnes should go. In die detective force, he will be hard to replace, but
as Chief of Police his loss will not be felt in the least.
In great haste, Faithfully yours
558-TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CoivleS MsS.°
New York, June 2, 1895
Darling Bye, I spent Decoration Day in the country with the family; Saga-
more was beautiful, and all the blessed children were just sweet. Yesterday
Edie came in town to meet Emily, who arrived this morning looking very
well indeed. It is a great thing for Edith to have her; they go out to the
country this afternoon. I shall follow in a couple of days, and then shall
hope to be there almost every night. The evenings are melancholy here
alone. But in the past week I have been to a number of very interesting
political dinners, to meet Harrison, McKinley, Mayor Strong &c.
I was very nice to the Lowthers! and had them to lunch at the Vienna
Bakery. It has been fearfully hot.
I am getting the police Department under control; I forced Byrnes and
Williams1 out, and now hold undisputed sway. My colleague Parker is the
man I work with. It is absorbingly interesting; but I have never worked
harder than in the last four weeks. Your loving brother
1 Police Inspector Alexander S. Williams, known as "Clubber" because of his fre-
quent, effective use of the night stick, charged with corruption and incompetency by
the Lexow Committee. He resigned on May 24.
459
559 ' TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, June 5, 1895
Dear Cabot: By Jove, that speech of Holmes' was fine; I wish he could
make Edward Atkinson learn it by heart and force him to repeat it for-
wards and backwards every time he makes a peace oration.
Scribner's took my Civil Service article2 and promised to put it in the
September number, and paid me One Hundred and Seventy-five ($175.00)
Dollars. The North American Review has taken my article on Kidd. I will
get a copy of the current number today and go through your Venezuela
article3 carefully.
Harry White spent last night with me at Sagamore (he sails for Europe
today), and told me your article was admirable. I lunched with him the
other day to meet Smalley,4 and could not resist chaffing the latter a little
about his attitude about Bayard.5
I have written a warm letter of congratulation to Greenhalge upon his
veto of the Veterans bill. It was a plucky thing to do.
To my great amusement our old friend Raines6 called on me the other
day to explain that he was a much abused and misunderstood man, and to
ask me to draw up a drastic Civil Service Reform bill for him to introduce
at the next Session of the Legislature. The good gentleman is slightly nerv-
ous about his seat.
This State shows very strong symptoms of going in good earnest for
Morton; and Harry White told me that there is an immense amount of talk
about Morton in the West. I am a great deal annoyed and alarmed to find
that there is a very widespread feeling among good solid Republicans here
that Tom Reed has straddled the financial issue, and they are very luke-
warm about him in consequence. I do wish he had taken the opportunity to
come out straight and strong against free silver; I think it would have nomi-
nated him without a doubt; as it is the matter is very doubtful indeed; but
I hope that when he becomes Speaker we can get the boom on. I wish you
would, if you think it best, write to him that the feeling among sound money
people is so strong that I believe, aside from its being right, it would also be
in die highest degree expedient to come out in the most emphatic manner
1 Lodge, 1, 146-148.
•Theodore Roosevelt, "Six Years of Civil Service Reform," Scribner's Magazme, 18:
238-247 (August 1895).
•This article by Lodge, "England, Venezuela, and the Monroe Doctrine," North
American Review, 160:651-658 (June 1895), dealt with the British attitude in the
celebrated Venezuela-Guiana boundary dispute. Dexter Perkins, in Hands Off
(Boston, 1942), p. 174, says, "This article was, perhaps, chiefly remarkable for the
number and die grossness of its historical errors . . . but it was distinguished, too,
by a violent indictment of British imperialism, and the forthright charge that the
object of British policy was the control of the mouth of the Orinoco."
* George Washburn Smalley, American correspondent of the London Times.
5 Bayard at this time was ambassador to England.
'John Raines, Republican state senator.
460
against free coinage. He can't keep the Silver fanatics with him, and un-
doubtedly the sound money men at present feel that he is luke-warm in the
matter, and is trying to play politics for the Silver vote. Of course, I know
that this is an utterly mistaken idea; and the few men whom I can reach I
can generally convince of their error, but most of them I can't reach, and
the feeling exists.
My work here is as absorbing as ever. I have been only two nights in the
country.
The Republicans and the Good Government Club people are standing
by me with enthusiasm, and though I shall not be able to accomplish all I
could wish, still, I shall do a good deal. The Sim is very amusing about me.
I think Uncle Jim is gnashing his teeth because the Tribune and the Sun
have both been bewailing the fact that I cannot be President of the Park
Board for twenty-four hours, so as to put that "mismanaged department" in
good working order.7
Give my best love to Nannie. I am so anxious to see you both, and am
looking forward to my night at Nahant. Ever yours
P.S. I have just read your article; and it is admirable; the most convincing
showing of what England has done; if only our people will heed it!
560 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.Q
Oyster Bay, June 8, 1895
Darling Bye, I am out for Sunday, and very glad to get the rest. I only spent
one night in town since Monday; and that night I passed in tramping the
streets, finding out by personal inspection how the police were doing their
duty. A good many were not doing their duty; and I had a line of huge
frightenned guardians of the peace down for reprimand or fine, as a sequel
to my all-night walk.
At present I am in high favor with both the Republicans and the Good
Government Club people; and I certainly have hold of the reins in the police
department. Although the work has been hard I have really enjoyed it much;
and I have accomplished a good deal.
Unless it rains I go to and from the station on a bicycle, so as to get a
little exercise.
An English moose-hunting friend turned up for a night here. On the
cars one day I saw Tizzie, looking very pretty, and decidedly incredulous
as to your ever leaving London and returning to New York.
Emily is very well, and a pleasure to Edith. The children are all just dear.
Your loving brother
7 James Roosevelt was president of the Park Board.
461
561 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, June 16, 1895
Dear Cabot, Tell Nannie that Jessie is now very much at home, and such a
very nice dog; accompanies us on our walks, sits with us in the evening, and
is beloved by the children. Archie is much fascinated by her red tongue,
when she lies still and pants; and crawls up and tries to grab it.
I shall be on for our class dinner on the 25*. On the 26th I am to be
Marshal under Roger Wolcott; and I'll go home with you to Nahant; on
the afternoon of the 27* I ought to start back for New York. I made an-
other night patrol. I am beginning to get the department pretty well in hand,
though I have a vast amount of work before me yet. I am rather amused at
the way I have become for the moment rather a prominent personage; but
I am not deceived, and neither must you be; there is nothing permanent in
my hold, politically. But I hope I shall be able to make my weight count in
the delegate choosing next Spring; and I am very well pleased to be doing a
needful piece of work in rather good shape.
Nannie's note to Edith was so sweet. Edith will stay over night to meet
you two when you come on. Yours always
At commencement we can meet at die Pore.
562 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Oyster Bay, June 16, 1895
Darling Bye, Twice I have spent the night in patrolling New York on my
own account, to see exactly what the men were doing. My experiences were
interesting, and the trips did good, though each meant my going forty hours
at a stretch without any sleep. But in spite of my work I really doubt
whether I have often been in better health. It is very interesting; and I feel
as though it was so eminently practical; it has not a touch of the academic.
Indeed anything more practical it would be hard to imagine. I am dealing
with the most important, and yet most elementary, problems of our munici-
pal life. The work has absorbed me. I have not tried to write a line of my
book since I took the office; and a rather melancholy feature of it is that
I do'n't see very much of the children. In the morning I get little more than
a glimpse of them. In the evening I always take a romp with Archie, who
loves me with all his small silly heart; the two little boys usually look over
what they call my "jewel box" while I am dressing; I then play with cun-
ning Ethel in her crib; and Alice takes dinner with us.
Emily's visit has made a very great difference to Edith. Lovingly yours
1 Lodge, 1, 148.
462
563 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT
Oyster Bay, June 23, 1895
Darling Bye, Your letter about your daily life, and the royalties at the con-
certs, and the rabbit-nosed Italian ambassador, was so amusing and interest-
ing. The Tweedmouth outfit must be rather lurid. In Washington I did my
best to be polite to Marjoribanks; but when he turned up in New York I
was so driven by my work that I simply could'n't do anything for him.
Maxey spent last Monday night here; he is a very honorable and con-
scientious fellow, but abnormally dull.
Have you read Kidd's Social Evolution? If so, look into the July North
American where I have a review of him.
I am immensely amused and interested in my work. It keeps me so busy
I can hardly think. My queer, strong, able colleague Parker is far and away
the most positive character with whom I have ever worked on a commission.
If he and I get at odds we shall have a battle royal; but I think we can pull
together; and though Grant and Andrews do excellent work, Parker is the
only man from whom I get any real help in shaping a big measure of policy.
We are gradually having the laws better and better observed, and getting
more and more thorough control over the force. Twice this week I had to
spend the night in town. The first time Parker and I dined together, for we
always have much to talk over; the second time we dined with the Mayor.
After dinner I got my patrolman and spent three or four hours investigating
the conduct of the police in a couple of precincts where I considered the
captains to be shady. I make some rather startling discoveries at times. These
midnight rambles are great fun. My whole work brings me in contact with
every class of people in New York, as no other work possibly could; and
I get a glimpse of the real life of the swarming millions. Finally, I do really
feel that I am accomplishing a good deal.
On Sundays I revel in the bunnies. Archie loves me better than anything
in the world. Ted is so sweet; indeed they all are dear.
Give my love to Rosy, and to little Helen. Your loving brother
564 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Oyster Bay, June 30, 1895
Darling Bye, On Tuesday I went on to Harvard, to my class dinner; the
only one I have ever been to; and it was the i5th anniversary and the fel-
lows all urged me to come in a way I could not well resist. I was very glad
I went. Not only all my class, but all the Alumni and undergraduates, gave
me a royal reception. They elected me overseer at the top of the poll, two
hundred votes ahead of the next man, who was Charles Francis Adams.1
1 Charles Francis Adams, publicist, man of affairs, son of Charles Francis Adams the
diplomat.
463
Willie Chanler was given his degree, because of his African explorations!
Mahan, Joe Jefferson2 & Sir Frederick Pollock,3 were also given degrees.
Afterwards I spent the night with the Lodges at Nahant. They were as
dear as ever. Bigelow was there, & Springy, and also Winty, who showed in
somewhat startling manner the effects of an enjoyable Commencement day
at the Porcellian.
Edith says that she is literally exhausted with making Alice write the
enclosed, and so will put off her own letter until next week.
We see about you in the papers, very swell, going about with all the
highest in the land; and it seems rather a contrast to the useful but grimy
work in which your affectionate brother. But I hope you will soon come
home if only for one winter!
I am working as I never worked before; and I have now run up against
an ugly snag, the Sunday Excise Law. It is altogether too strict; but I have
no honorable alternative save to enforce it, and I am enforcing it, to the
furious rage of the saloon keepers, and of many good people too; for which
I am sorry.4 I have a difficult task; but in spite of the work and worry I
really enjoy it. Your loving brother
565 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CO'WleS MSS.°
Oyster Bay, July 4, 1895
My own darling Bye, To say that your cable and letter surprised us is a
hopelessly inadequate way of saying what we felt. We were dumbfounded.
But we were sincerely, very sincerely, glad. In Washington, and especially
from Teresa Richardson, we had heard high praise of Captain Cowles;1 and
I have always felt it a shame that you, one of the two or three finest women
whom I have met or known of, that you, a really noble woman, should not
marry. Then, I am so glad it was'n't an Englishman! I should have hated
that. And I am glad it 'was a naval officier. I have a very strong feeling for
the navy; I wish one of my boys could enter it; and I am very glad your
* Joseph Jefferson, one of the leading American actors of his day, famous particularly
for his performance in Rip Van Winkle.
8 Sir Frederick Pollock, professor of jurisprudence at Oxford, author with F. W.
Maitland of the monumental History of English Law Before the Time of Edward 1
(Cambridge, 1895).
*The Sunday Excise Law, popularly called the Raines Law, prevented the sale of
alcoholic beverages on Sunday. Roosevelt's energetic attempts to enforce it produced
the most exciting and savagely debated issue of his term as police commissioner. He
stated his own position on the question in greater detail in his Autobiography) Nat.
Ed. XX, 227-231.
1 William Sheffield Cowles graduated from the United States Naval Academy in
1867 and rose through the traditional grades to rank of rear admiral in 1908. In 1895
he was naval attache at the United States Embassy in London. For a time, while
Roosevelt was President, he served as naval aide.
464
husband is to be an officier in our navy. By the way, tell me his exact rank;
is he a captain or a commander?
But there is one thing about which I feel dreadfully. I can not by any
possibility leave my work here at this time. It would be dishonorable for me.
I have plunged the Administration into a series of fights; to leave now would
be to flinch; when you appreciate the situation here you will be the first to
say that I could not honorably have left. It is the greatest imaginable sorrow
— a real sorrow — to me not to be with you, my darling sister, at this mo-
ment. I should, moreover, so like to see in the flush of your triumph in Lon-
don, where you have done so well; and to have met all the people you have
known, whom I should so have liked to meet, and have seen them with you
— especially with the Lodges & Corinne & all. Even apart from my longing
to be with you now, this is the time of all others I should like to have been
in London. But I can not as an honorable man leave this work now.
My darling sister how I love you! Your own brother
566 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Swift
New York, July 12, 1895
My dear Mr. Swift: — If you ever pass through New York, I want you to
stop at Police Headquarters for a few moments and look into our system.
If ever I wished an absolute proof of the need of an application of the
principles of the Civil Service Reform, it would be furnished by my experi-
ence in this office; and my three colleagues are at one with me on this point.
We have not made an appointment, a promotion, a reduction or a dis-
charge of any kind for political reasons. We do not try to divide the office
up according to parties; we do not even know the politics of the men we
discharge or appoint. This is not our main business, it is merely an in-
cident to our business; but it is an all important incident. I do not suppose
there is a Department in the country, which has as hard work before it
or such desperate enemies to fight as ours; nevertheless, I think we are
going to win.
Incidentally perhaps we may put Tammany Hall temporarily back in
power, but we are enforcing the laws as they never before have been en-
forced; we are attacking corruption as it never before has been attacked;
and we are for the first time, absolutely and really ruling politics out
of this Department, I think it is a fairly good object lesson.
Remember me heartily to Mrs. Swift. Faithfully yours
567 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchVTZ MSS.
New York, July 13, 1895
My dear Mr. Schurz: — It was not until yesterday that I saw your letter,
in which you spoke of me so very kindly; I thank you most heartily.
Coming from you, I value them indeed.
There is really a touch of comedy about attacking me as an "illiberal,"
"nativist" and "know nothing"; I have not got a drop of that kind of blood
in me; it is alien to my whole nature. I do not care a rap.
Taking the matter of promotions and reductions inside this force, the
two last reductions I made were of native Americans who were republi-
cans, as the local politicians took care to inform me; and to fill their places,
and to fill three other vacancies, I promoted five men, all of them, I believe,
born in this country, but four of them of Irish and one of German parent-
age. The four Irish I believe were catholics. My own only two personal
appointments, my secretary and messenger, are both catholics of Irish par-
entage.
When I was in the Legislature, I, by my deciding vote, killed prohibition
and took strong ground in favor of the Germans being allowed their beer
gardens. The Sunday question was not then in issue.
I have purposely abstained from expressing my own views about the
Sunday law one way or the other because I want to stand on the issue
of the observance of the law. I was rather glad that Hill made the attack
in the way he did, and that he should have found a republican ally in
Acting Assistant General Clarkson of Iowa.
I wish much I could come out to see you next Sunday; but Sunday is
absolutely the only day I see my wife and family, and I simply cannot
make up my mind to leave them.
Do let me know when you come back from Lake George! Yours always
568 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE
Oyster Bay, July 14, 1895
Dear Cabot, For good or ill I have made an upset in New York politics;
and, with true parochialism, the average New Yorker regards the tariff,
silver, and presidential nominees as all secondary to the Excise question.
It is an awkward and ugly fight; yet I am sure I am right in my posi-
tion, and I think there is an even chance of our winning on it. Hill has
written a long letter, with a labored attack on me and on my position,
picturing me as "indulging in a champagne dinner at the Union League
dub" while I deny the poor man his beer. Clarkson, quite needlessly, came
to Hill's assistance, in an interview in which he assailed me for aiding the
democrats by my "puritanism," and compared me to the Iowa Prohibition-
ists. The Goo-Goos,2 and all the German leaders, backed ferociously by
the Staats-Zeitung, the World and the Morning Journal, and also by Platt's
paper, the Advertiser, have attacked me. The Evening Post flinched char-
acteristically; but has finally been driven to support me. All the churches
1 Lodge, 1, 149-151.
•Popular description of members of the Good Government clubs, favorite targets of
Roosevelt's wrath.
466
however have rallied round me enthusiastically. I am going to assail Hill
with heart and soul at a German City Reform Club Tuesday; and I shall
not flinch one handsbreadth from my position. Their last move, and a mo-
mentarily embarrassing one has been, through various lawyers, to revive
various obsolete blue laws, and bring the cases before the magistrates. Parker
is proving an invaluable ally; and we shall win on the main point. The blue
law business is puzzling; but I think I am working out even a solution to
that. Meanwhile I have, for once, absolutely enforced the law in New
York, which has always been deemed impossible.
I receive all kinds of clippings from outside papers, among them one from
a paper of yours, the Springfield Union, with an editorial on me as a scholar
and statesman, in which it says I am like Salisbury and Rosebury in Eng-
land, or Lodge and Everett in America! Intelligent editor; very.
Cornell made a very poor showing at Henley.
I am at work as hard as ever, or harder, and see no chance of a let up;
and my own work is so absorbing that I don't keep as well posted as I
should in outside matters. The silver craze is certainly subsiding.
Give my wannest love to Nannie; and remember me to Bay and John.
One comic feature of the situation here is that recently several persons
supposed to look like me have been followed at night by very unfriendly
mobs! However I've never encountered anything unpleasant myself on my
midnight patrols. Yours always
P.S. The other day there was an Irish riot against the Orange parade in
Boston. Friday was the anniversary of the Boyne battle, and the Orange-
men paraded here. There had been some uneasiness because of the Boston
riot; so I had all the reserves in the stations with their night sticks, and
sent a double number with the parade, under Inspector McCullough, who
is of protestant Irish blood; and instructed him that the word was to be
"clubs" if there was the slightest disturbance or attempt to interfere with
the procession. It went off as quietly as a Sunday school meeting!
This has been a very egoistic letter. Edith sends you both her love, and
says she wishes she were with you. I should wish it too, if I had time
enough to wish anything. Do write me all about the people you meet, and
particularly the Whites; to whom remember me very warmly. They are
among the few people whom I really wish to see again.
Edith is well; she is going to ride Diamond soon; that veteran polo
pony is now a saddle horse for her sister Emily Carow. I shall write Harry8
as soon as the Montgomery comes to harbor, and try to get him out here.
The children are in fine health. Archie crawls up to Jessie and kisses
her muddy nose, and Jessie licks his face; which seems symptomatic of
rather untidy affection. I have bought Ted a Flobert rifle and am teaching
him how to shoot. The Boone and Crockett gave Willie Chanler and Von
Hohnel a dinner, which was one of the pleasantest I ever went to.
8 Charles Henry Davis.
467
The only exercise I get is to ride to and from the station on a bicycle
when I don't pass the night in Town.
Have you met Bryce and Balfour, Morley and Lang? Yours
569 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchllTZ
New York, July 17, 1895
My dear Mr. Schurz: — I have just received your letter. Last night at a
meeting of Good Government Club I, the meeting being composed nine-
tenths of Germans, I explained my position at length. Mr. Schwab1 and Mr.
von Briesen2 spoke.
Most certainly we shall enforce all the laws. Just at present I am in com-
munication with the Corporation Counsel's Office on the soda water ques-
tion; Acting Mayor Jeroloman8 having called my attention to the fact that
where the soda water contains syrup it probably comes under the head of
confectionery, the sale of which is allowed by law.
To take up the soda water question radically just at this moment is
a simply physical impossibility. The saloon keepers whom we are fighting
now, are you must remember, the saloon keepers of wealth and influence
who have had a pull, whose word has always been law; they have been in
the past the hand agents in the corruption of the police; they are making
a hot fight in every way; and we cannot afford for a moment to loosen
our grasp on them. To do so would be to utterly demoralize the Police
Force.
I wish you would read in the Times of this morning my speech at the
Good Government Club last night. You will see that it contains my posi-
tion in full. We must finish the job we are on before taking up another,
when it is a physical impossibility to do both at the same time. But just
as rapidly as our powers will permit we shall enforce all these laws. Very
truly yours
1 Gustav Henry Schwab, New York City merchant; member of the Committee of
Seventy, Reform Club, German-American Reform Union; president, German Society
of New York City. The German societies of New York were opposed to Roosevelt's
enforcement of the Sunday Closing Law.
•Arthur von Briesen, New York City lawyer, member of the Committee of Seventy,
German- American Reform Union, German-American Cleveland Union; later (1896)
president of the Citizens' Union; in 1900 president of the German- American McKin-
ley-Roosevelt League; in 1904 chairman of the New York Roosevelt League. Von
Briesen's work as president of the German Legal Aid Society established him as one
of the leading humanitarians of his day.
3 John Jeroloman, lawyer, reformer, then president of the Board of Aldermen.
468
570 ' TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, July 20, 1895
Dear Cabot: While you are engaged in a round of reckless dissipation with
the English aristocracy, I intend, from time to time, to inflict on you ac-
counts of the work we hot and groveling practical politicians of the baser
sort are doing as our summer work in New York.
Two or three nights a week I have to stay in town; Sunday I spend in
the country; the other days I ride to and from the station on my bicycle,
leaving my house at half past seven in the morning, spending a perfect
whirl of eight hours in New York, and returning just in time for a short
play with the children before I get dressed for supper.
I have never been engaged in a more savage fight. Senator Hill thinks
he sees in my actions a chance to strike the keynote for the Democratic
campaign this fall. He has accordingly written a long letter against me and
my conduct to the Local Democracy. I responded in a speech, of which I
enclose a copy from a hostile paper; will you send it back to me? It pro-
duced me the following telegram from Senator Hoar:
"WORCESTER, MASS.,
July 1 8, 1895.
"Your speech is the best speech that has been made on this continent
for thirty years. I am glad to know that there is a man behind it worthy
of the speech.
GEORGE F. HOAR."
That was pretty good for the old man, was it not? I was really greatly
flattered. I have had letters from all over the country backing me up, and
even in New York City here, I believe there is a very strong feeling for
me; but of course the outcry against me at the moment is tremendous. The
World, Herald, Sun, Journal and Advertiser are shrieking with rage; and
the Staats-Zeitung is fairly epileptic; the Press stands by me nobly. The
Tribune and Times more tepidly; the Evening Post has been afraid of its
life, and has taken refuge in editorials that are so colorless as to be comical.
P. S. The Post has now suddenly changed and is howling in my favor; and
the Tribune is strengthening considerably. However, I don't care a snap of
my finger; my position is impregnable; and I am going to fight no matter
what the opposition is.
Parker is proving himself an exceedingly efficient ally, and I get on well
with both my other colleagues.
Carl Schurz has written me an agonizing letter to enforce the law against
soda-water as much as beer. I wrote him back that I would tackle the soda-
water in time, but nothing could make me relax my grip on the liquor
sellers.
1 Lodge, 1, 151-152.
469
Tell me about the Whites; and the different people whom you have met.
Give my best love to Nannie. Yours always
571 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, July 30, 1895
Dear Cabot: It certainly looks to me as if the silver sentiment was very
much on the wane. From the standpoint of policy and expediency I regret
more and more all the time that Tom Reed did not make a strong anti-free
coinage speech when he voted for the Gold Bonds.2 Had he done so, and
come out in a ringing speech as the champion of sound money, there would
not now be the slightest opposition to him in New York. As things actually
are the Morton movement bids fair to be serious.
When I get at the table with a man I can always explain to him at
full length that Reed is a fearless champion of sound money; and I can
usually, after some length of time, show him that I am speaking the truth;
but Reed's attitude ought not to need explanation. I am not criticizing what
he did. Speaking from a purely academic standpoint, I think it was right;
but as regards New York State events have shown that it was a blunder.
We may be able to offset the effects later; I think we shall; but we have
now a doubtful fight, whereas, under other circumstances victory would
have come without an effort.
All of the best men (I do not mean Mugwumps, I mean Republicans)
have gotten the idea firmly fixed in their heads that Reed tried to straddle
the Silver Question. When I meet one of them, I can gradually pick the
idea out of his head; but there are nine hundred and ninety-nine that I do
not meet.
Extraordinary though it seems, I do believe that Cleveland is planning
for a third term, and that he may be nominated: I think we should beat
him if he was; but I am by no means sure that he would not give us a good
deal of a fight. People are crazy over him; though I think it is more our
kind of people than the "masses."
At the Presidential election all the Southern States are going to go Dem-
ocratic, no matter what they think about silver. With Cleveland up we
should have a terrific struggle in the North East, unless we make our fight
1 Lodge, 1, 155-157.
•In March 1895 the "gold bond resolution" authorizing payment in gold of the inter-
est and principal of the Morgan-Belmont loan was before the House. Reed, with only
a minority of Republicans behind him voted to support the resolution but he did not
speak in favor of the proposal. For this he was criticized. Roosevelt, in "Issues of
1896; Republican View," Century Magazine, 51:68-72 (November 1895), explained
that Reed "could not express unmeasured approbation, so did not speak. The impor-
tant thing however was his vote,"
470
so uncompromising against free silver as to deprive us of all chances with
the Rocky Mountain States.
However, this is the alarmist view of the situation. In spite of the sub-
sidence of the silver craze, and of the hidebound allegiance of the silver
Democrats to the Democratic party, I cannot help thinking there will be
much trouble for the Democratic leaders on the financial question; and they
have to fear a bolt in their own ranks. We only have to fear the Rocky
Mountain States.
Our own conventions, from Iowa east, are coming out all right on the
financial issue; and the good crops bid fair to knock the life out of the
Populists; so that I think the chances, looked at dispassionately, are consid-
erably in our favor.
I enclose you Harry's letter; it is so characteristic. I have asked him out
for next Sunday as Smalley, Florence Lockwood and Grant LaFarge are
coming out. Yours always
P.S. — The excise, or rather Sunday-closing, fight is as bitter as ever;
but I think matters are beginning to look better for us. Edith and the chil-
dren are well.
572 • TO CHARLES ANDERSON DANA Printed1
New York, August 3, 1895
Sir: In your list of Indian words adopted into our language I did not notice
that you included "cayuse," in use for small Indian horses in the far North-
west, nor "whisky-jack," which is derived from the Indian, and is the most
common of the various names applied by the hunters and trappers of the
northern woods and Rocky Mountains to that drab-colored haunter of
wilderness camps, the Canada jay. Besides "wangan," the Maine and Minne-
sota lumbermen use "wanigan" as a name for the big chest in which the
men keep their spare clothes and a few personal belongings.
Out on my ranch on the Little Missouri there was once a huge German
whose first experience of American life had been gained in a logging camp.
When he came out to our little town of Medora, in the cow country, he
had with him a trunk, which he called his wanigan. Somebody "rustled"
it, and his perpetual inquiries after it resulted in his receiving the name of
"Dutch Wanigan." He finally adopted this name himself, and gradually
every one grew to forget that he had any other name. Even his few letters
came addressed "D. Wanigan, Esq."
By the way, I was surprised to see your correspondent put down
"bronco" as a Spanish word. It is hardly ever used on the Mexican border,
while it is in universal use on the northern cattle plains.
*New York Sun, August 5, 1895.
47 *
573 ' T0 HORACE ELISHA SCUDDER HoUghtOTl Mifflin
New York, August 6, 1895
My dear Mr. Scudder: — Permit me to introduce to you Mr. J. L. Steffens1
who has an admirable article on the Police Department, which I thought
might possibly be of interest to you.
Mr. StefFens represents the Evening Post. He is a graduate of the Uni-
versity of California, and has studied abroad in Germany and Paris. He is
a personal friend of mine; and he has seen all of our work at close quarters.
He and Mr. Jacob Riis have been the two members of the Press who have
most intimately seen almost all that went on here in the Police Department;
so he speaks at first hand as an expert.
You are, of course, the best judge as to whether or not the article is
suitable for the Atlantic; but as to Mr. Steffens' competency as an expert I
can, myself, vouch. Very truly yours
574 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchitTZ Mss.
New .York, August 6, 1895
My dear Air. Schurz: It is a very easy task, although not a very pleasant
one, to answer the editorials you quote from the Staats-Zeitung. I regret to
have to say that both what the writer of the editorials says about the alleged
increase of crime in New York City, and what he says when he purports
to be quoting my remarks, are absolute and willful untruths. I earnestly
hope that Mr. Ottendorfer will soon return from abroad so that his paper
may again become one which respectable men can read.1
In the first place I will take up the Staats-Zeitung }s statement that there
is less protection against crime than formerly. This is a willful and delib-
erate falsehood on the part of the Editor of that paper; because when he
wrote that, I had already published the figures showing that since we have
taken control of the Board the number of felonies committed had shrunk;
and the number of arrests for felonies had increased compared with what
went on under the old Board. Thus, taking six weeks from June ist, as
compared with a corresponding length of time last winter we find that
in the six weeks of June and July there were but three hundred and fifteen
felonies reported to the Police Department in New York; whereas, for the
1 Joseph Lincoln Steffens, the imaginative reporter who described his steadying
influence upon the Police Commission as follows, *1t was all breathless and sudden,
but Riis and I were soon describing the situation to him. ... It was just as if we
three were the police board, T. R., Riis, and I, and as we got T. R. calmed down we
made him promise to go a bit slow, to consult with his colleagues also." — The Auto-
biography of Lincoln Stefiens (New York, 1931), p. 258.
1 Oswald Ottendorfer, a "forty-eighter," owned a controlling interest in the Stoats-
Zeittmg; organizer and leader of the German-American Reform Union, he was active
in New York City reform movements from 1872 until his death in 1900.
472
six weeks in the winter there were three hundred and seventy-nine (379).
This shows a decrease of sixty-six (66) felonies committed during the six
weeks of our administration as compared with any average six weeks before.
During the same period that there was this shrinkage the number of arrests
for felonies increased just about twenty-six (26); that is, sixty-six (66)
fewer felonies were committed and twenty-six (26) more men were ar-
rested for felonies.
The statements that the Staats-Zeitung makes as to my position are just
as false. I have never varied in any way from the position I took at the out-
set, which was that I declined to state my own opinions on the question of
the Sunday Liquor Law; that I stood fairly and squarely on the platform
of the honest enforcement of law. I have never made any public statement
of my position as to the Sunday Excise Law, because I do not intend to
allow the issue to become confused.
We stand for the honest enforcement of law; the Staats-Zeitung has
taken the ground that we ought to be guilty of corrupt connivance at its
violation. When the Staats-Zeitung says that I hit mainly the poor man, the
Staats-Zeitung is again guilty of deliberate falsehood. The same is true of
its statement that I openly favor class legislation. What it means by such
mendacious nonsense I do not know. I suppose it is dishonestly referring
to my statement, that we really benefit the poor man who is in the liquor
traffic because we prevent his wealthy and unscrupulous rival from driving
him out of the business by means of the corrupt favoritism of the Police.
I also said that the poor man who is prevented from getting drunk on
Sunday is benefited by our course. Of course he is benefited, precisely as
the rich man is, and my statement was merely an answer to the dishonest
clamor of such men as this writer, who insisted that we were "hurting the
poor man." When they untruthfully state such to be the case the only
way to meet them is to truthfully tell what the facts are.
I published the statistics showing that drunkedness had decreased in con-
sequence of our enforcement of the Excise Law; only because our oppo-
nents had been loudly insisting, through the newspaper press, that drunk-
edness had increased. If the Staats-Zeitung does not believe that I am right
when I say that it is better for a man to take his wife and children to some
place where they can all enjoy themselves, no matter whether he gets beer
there or not, than for him to spend his week's earnings himself drinking
at a bar, why, I can only say, that the Staats-Zeitung is welcome to its
opinion.
I have the honor to be with great respect, Faithfully yours
P.S. I hope this will do; if you want me to make my statement more
direct I will gladly do it. I think you are right about my not speaking too
often. I have promised the Catholic Temperance Society I would speak for
them, and I must do it; exactly as I spoke before the German G. G. Club,
which passed resolutions demanding Sunday opening. I would speak before
473
any Organization which is with us in this fight for Law and Order, whether
it favors opening or closing; but at present I agree with you. I had better
not talk much more; I will keep as quiet as I can.
575 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, August 8, 1895
Dear Cabot: Your letter was delightful. Edith and I read and re-read it. It
gave just exactly what we wanted to know. We want to hear about all
your dinners, exactly whom you meet there, and how you like them. We
want to know where you go, what you see and whose houses you stay at.
Make your next letter even more full of details. Tell us something about
Bay and John too.
I earnestly hope that the Conservatives will do something for inter-
national bi-metalism; it would help us out greatly. One good thing they will
accomplish will be to shut the mouths of the silly fools who have been de-
nouncing our strongest anti-free silver people, because they are also inter-
national bi-metalists.
I am thankful to say that the Missouri Democrats have come out for
free silver. The Iowa Democrats have repudiated it.
I am going to write an article on the Republican side of the issue of
the next Presidential campaign for the November Century. Your beloved
fellow patriot, Governor Russell, is to take the Democratic side. I should
have preferred a somewhat worthier opponent; but I was glad to have a
chance of making my own party position clear. Anyhow my article on
Tom Reed will come out in the December Forum too.2 I am very fortu-
nate in the fact that at present almost all of the men who attack me are Dem-
ocrats; and though I am administering this law in an absolutely non-parti-
san way; yet the Republicans appreciate that I am their most effective
champion; and my support among the Republicans (and decent people gen-
erally) is very strong, but there is a very serious defection from us among
the Germans.
I am just as busy as ever; but after this I am going to try to get Satur-
day off, as I shall not be able to take any regular holiday this year.
Edith, of course, persists in regarding me as a frail invalid needing con-
stant attention; and when I spend a night or two in town she sometimes
comes in and spends it with me. In one way, however, I think this does
her good because she gets away from the children, and usually spends a
quiet day in the Society Library.
I have just had a beautiful time at the Catholic Total Abstinence Silver
Jubilee. A Democratic State Senator named O'Sullivan dragged politics into
1 Lodge, 1, 159-161.
'Theodore Roosevelt, "Thomas Brackett Reed and the Fifty-first Congress," Forum,
20:410-418 (December 1895).
474
the affair and attacked Mayor Strong and myself. I followed and went for
him red-handed, and never in my life did I receive such an ovation. I en-
close the account in the World, which, you may be sure, did not color
things in my behalf.8
Edith has great fun driving the two ponies, which are in fine feather
and she and her sister are soon to begin riding. I have not had my leg
across a horse since I last rode Gladstone. I guess my riding and shooting
days are pretty well over. Indeed for the last three months about all of
my time has been taken up with the Police Department; but I find it very
interesting.
Best love to Nannie. Always yours
P.S. — To our great regret Harry Davis could not come out for Sun-
day. Smalley was as pleasant as possible. Grant LaFarge is really a good deal
of a fellow.
576 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, August 27, 1895
Dear Cabot: — I have just received your letter with the clipping from the
London Times; they greatly interested me.
I cannot judge of the effect of our action on politics. The bulk of the
Republican party are enthusiastically with us. We have surprising support
from quarters that I did not expect. The crowded east-side audiences of
Second Avenue and Avenue "A" greet me with an enthusiasm I never an-
ticipated. Of course there is much hostility shown too; but the wonder is
that I should have so strong a following among them.
I have spoken again and again in packed halls on the East-side during
the summer with the temperature at boiling point, both as regards the
weather and the audience. It has been in some respects like a campaign.
Generally, I have been interrupted, and frequently some speaker has jumped
up and at my request very often has taken the platform to speak against
me; but I have never failed to carry the house with me at the end.
Joe Murray and the Counsel of the Excise Board (a very honest little
East-side Jew) are in ecstasies, and insist that my course is making a big
gain for the Republican party in the very districts that were hostile to us.
All the respectable people and almost all of our own leaders who were at
first very doubtful about my course now heartily support me. I am in-
clined on the whole to think that it will have a good effect upon the Repub-
lican party, from a political standpoint. At any rate it was the only one
"Thomas C. O'Sullivan had painted a sad picture of a home of innocence marred by
the presence of a father who got drunk there of a Sunday instead of at a saloon. In
die course of a fiery reply, Roosevelt declared that he hoped "to see the day when
a man will be ashamed to take enjoyment, selfish enjoyment, which robs Sunday of
all pleasure to his wife and family." — New York Press, August 8, 1895.
* Lodge, I, 166-169.
475
I could possibly follow. But we are not in a satisfactory condition altogether
in this State, thanks primarily to Platt and what he represents. He acquiesced
in turning down three Senators who had done most of his dirty work last
year; and now two of them are running as Independent Candidates. On
the other hand he renominated Raines; there is a big bolt from him. More-
over, he is trying to make us run a straight ticket in this Gty, which will
alienate all the decent people and will be perfectly futile.
Quigg is heart and soul for him again at bottom, though keeping on
good terms with me; as indeed Platt, himself, I believe, is. So the outlook
is not very favorable; yet, I cannot help thinking that the drift is so much
our way that we shall win anyhow. If we do not it may possibly have a
good effect by preventing any overconfidence in the Presidential contest.
If we keep the legislature, even though Tammany gets the City, we shall
have held our own.
As regards my own action, I have one consolation. If I had not done
anything and had not enforced the Excise Law, we would probably have
been beaten anyhow; and we would have had no offset in the shape of
having done our duty. Now we have gained something tangible; and I do
not think we have impaired our chances of victory in the least. There was
risk either way; and only one way leads toward honesty.
In my Century article I worked in a paragraph smashing between the
eyes the gold bugs for their attitude toward Reed on the bond business. I
took the tone of speaking about it incidentally, simply to show the folly
of the men whom the free silver fanatics had driven into an opposite fanat-
icism quite as extreme; and in half a dozen sentences showed Reed's con-
sistency, and unflinching support of sound money. I think you will like
the article.
Smalley will write a Jeremiad over it as the work of a Jingo. I have
spoken to him as plainly as mortal can and told him, not only that my own
feeling, but also the general sentiment of the country was rather hostile to
England and was very strong in support of the Monroe Doctrine; but he
does not meet the men who share our views. He told me he did not be-
lieve there were many men of high standing that felt as I did; I instanced
you, and he promptly asserted that you were an exception; a most charm-
ing and attractive man; but a mono-maniac on foreign policy.
I shall write him at length, at once, again. I shall not quote your letter.
He read your piece on Venezuela; but it only caused him pain.
I really envy you meeting all the men you have met in such a delightful
way. They have certainly treated you well.
As I said before I think that my action on the whole will help the
Republican party, even though it may not avert a Tammany victory here;
it would only be a chance if we averted such a victory any way. But you
must not be under any delusion as to the effect of my actions upon me
personally. I have undoubtedly strengthened myself with the rank and file
476
of our party. I have administered this office so far with what I may call
marked success; but I have done so by incurring bitter enmity. I have not
in any way increased my grip on the party machinery. In other words,
my victory here does not leave me with any opening. It leads nowhere.
For the moment the Good Government Club people and their ilk regard
me as a hero; and the bulk of the Republican party are very strongly with
me; but such feeling, as you know well, is very evanescent. I have not any
permanent hold; it is simply a sporadic feat; and at the end all I shall gain
is a chance, and probably a remote chance, of being put into some similar
place, in the very unlikely event of our side again winning another such
municipal victory. Don't think from this that I feel blue, for I do not. I
have thoroughly enjoyed this work and I feel that it is honorable and cred-
itable; I have been far too busy to waste a thought on the future; but I do
not want you to get false ideas about the position. You look at my deeds
. through rosy glasses; — no one else shares your view.
I am delighted to hear that John has his preliminary certificate. I do
not believe there will be any further trouble.
Give my best love to Nannie. Yours always
577 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, September, 1895
Dear Cabot, I did not suppose that Ted had kept much of an eye on the
Yacht race; but it appears that he had, for, entirely of his own notion, he
has just christened the new pig "Sulky Dunraven."
The other day I went up to the New York Athletic Club meeting, in
my official capacity to preserve order, and incidentally to see the Americans
whip the English in every one of the eleven events; and in six of them to
win the second place.
The fight is on here now in earnest. I am greatly angered at the course
of the Republican State Convention. They were too cowardly to endorse
our action in enforcing the law; and the Democrats were too cowardly to
condemn it. Both sides shufHed on the Excise question. The Platt machine
people are wholly impossible; they actually proposed to make no mention
whatever of the one question which was engrossing the whole attention of
the Committee to the exclusion of every other.2
Warner Miller saved us from absolutely hopeless defeat by putting in
1 Lodge, 1, 172-173-
* Hamilton Fish, T. C. Platt's spokesman for the committee on resolutions, had pre-
sented a platform which ignored the Sunday Closing Law. At first a majority or the
committee accepted this program, but Warner Miller, in a forceful speech presented
an amendment calling for "the maintenance of the Sunday laws in the interest of
labour and morality." Spurred on by Miller, delegates from the country districts
forced Platt to accede. The Democratic platform called for local option, leaving the
observance of the law to the decision of each community.
477
a Sunday resolution; but even this resolution was ill drawn and ill consid-
ered. The Democratic resolution was just as ambiguous; but it is much more
carefully drawn, and therefore on the whole rather better than ours, for
their Committee on Resolutions carefully repudiated the proposition of
Hill and Perry Belmont3 to attack us for our enforcement of the Law. If
our Convention had had any sense it would have hailed with delight the
issue given by Hill as to the honest enforcement of the Law, and would
have made this the first plank in their platform. Had they done so, we
should have swept this State as it has never been swept before. Now, the
fight is doubtful, though, I think we shall win, and if we can only make
the party managers, even at this late day take our ground and fight straight
for the honest enforcement of the Law, we can win with a good majority.
The irritating feature in the conduct of machine leaders is, its utter
fatuity. They cannot placate the liquor men in the least. They will not
win a brewer or saloon keeper to our side, but they will succeed in ren-
dering a great mass of men who would have turned to us lukewarm, or
even hostile.
Dr. Parkhurst is back and full of fight. He is a very good fellow. Joe
Murray under stress of opposition has developed into an anti-saloon man
of a ferocity which makes my attitude toward the liquor men seem one of
timid subserviency.
From now on I shall have but little time to myself until after election.
I don't have enough time to myself even to envy Nannie and you your
trip through Southern France and Spain. Edith and I still fairly revel in
your letters. Always yours
578-10 HENRY WHITE Henry White Mss*
Oyster Bay, September 15, 1895
My dear White, I was much pleased to receive your letter; and the Lodges
have kept me informed from time to time about Mrs. White and yourself,
so that I now know pretty well what you have been doing.
As for me, my entire time has been taken up with the Police Board,
and the attendant political fighting. Sunday I spend here, and two or three
times a week I get out for the night; but otherwise I am steadily in New
York. A couple of evenings a week, or oftener, I have had to speak, usually
to "East Side" audiences; in hot, crowded rooms, but usually to friendly
audiences, though they generally contain enough of the enemy to make it
lively by questions and altercations. We have certainly made a success of
this police problem so far as the actual administration is concerned. We
have materially improved the condition of the force, while crime has dimin-
*Peny Bdmont, Democratic congressman from New York, 1881-1888; minister to
Spain, 1888-1889; wealthy, conspicuous supporter of the conservative wing of his
party.
478
ished, and we have enforced the law in ways no man had deemed possible.
Politically, no man can foretell the result of our actions. Hill has been vio-
lently attacking me; and I have handled him very roughly in return. Platt
has control of the Republican machine in New York; and therefore I fear
Tammany will sweep things in the city this year. But I hope the Republicans
will carry the state; for a Democratic triumph means at present the mere
victory of Hill and Tammany. However, whatever the outcome, I have
done all that could be done; and be the event what it may I shall have no
regrets for my course. You are mistaken if you think that, as far as I am
concerned, my place has more than an ephemeral value; there is no per-
manence in my position, and no future to it.
I took a day off to see the first yacht race; the Defender, with her
native-American crew, was altogether the better boat; Dunraven has be-
haved very badly. The excursion steamers interfered quite as much with
Defender as with Valkyrie; and on the last day not at all. He used them as
a mere excuse to withdraw, because he saw he was beaten. In short he sulked,
and showed the white feather; and he tried sharp practice the time he fouled
the Defender.
Tell Muriel I have just returned from a scramble with Ted and Alice.
What is your address? I wish to send a book to Harry. Give my warm
regards to Mrs. White. It has been most pleasant meeting finally this sum-
mer. Yours
P.S. It has been very pleasant seeing Willie Chanler this summer.
579 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, September, 1895
Dear Cabot: I have just received your two letters*from France. Yes, I re-
ceived the clippings right after I sent you the letter asking you to get them
for me.
Edith and I have enjoyed your letters immensely. I am sorry to say she
seems to sympathize with your view as to my probable failure to appreciate
the splendid architecture of the Norman Cathedral towns. In this she is
wrong. The great Cathedrals have always possessed as much fascination for
me as for those who know far more about architecture than I do.
I envy you your trip both in England and in France. How I wish we
could have been abroad at the same time.
Like yourself, I was a little nervous about the Defender. Edith and I
went down to see the first race on the Police Patrol Boat; and at its finish
I was not nervous in the least. In a very low wind and in smooth waters
the two boats were nearly equal; but when there was a sea on the Defender
was the better boat; and as soon as the wind rose her superiority became
very marked. Her second race was a really wonderful feat, thanks to Dun-
1 Lodge, 1, 174-177.
479
raven's fouling her (when he tried a piece of sharp practice and attempted
to bluff the Yankee Captain, who would not be bluffed), the Defender was
never able to make use of her large head sails at all; but although crippled
she was beaten by only forty-seven seconds. This second race proved that
the Valkyrie had not a chance. Dunraven then funked; it was a clear case
of showing the white feather. His talk about the excursion boats was all
nonsense; they bothered one boat as much as the other. They did not inter-
fere seriously with either of the boats. And in the third race, which he
abandoned, they did not interfere at all. They had no effect whatever on
the result of either race.
He has shown himself a poor sportsman; he has sulked and flinched.
I am very much touched by your persistence in far overestimating the
position I hold; but you really make me a little uneasy for I do not want
you to get false ideas of my standing. I undoubtedly have a strong hold on
the imagination of decent people; and I have the courageous and enthusi-
astic support of the men who make up the back-bone of the Republican
party; but I have no hold whatever on the people who run the Republi-
can machine.
Platt's influence is simply poisonous. I cannot go in with him; no honest
man of sincerity can. Yet, his influence is very great; he has completely
overthrown the Brookfield people. At the Primaries, my own Assembly
District we held, although after a close vote; but elsewhere throughout the
city the Platt people generally triumphed. He can gain victories over Repub-
licans in Primaries and Conventions; but he cannot gain victories against
Democrats; and he has no hold on the rank and file of the Republican
party. On the contrary they are reluctant to vote for any man whom he
controls. The Platt men carry the other Assembly Districts in my Con-
gressional District.
At present, I do not see how I can get to the National Convention as
a delegate. The Platt people will probably control the District. Moreover,
in my own Assembly District there are:
Chauncey Depew,2 Gen'l. Sam Thomas,4
Joseph Choate, Mayor Strong, and
Alison G. McCook,8 Brookfield.
All of these are men of note; and all of them, excepting probably Choate
and Strong, will be among the many candidates for Delegates for die presi-
* Chauncey Mitchell Depew, at this time president of the New York Central Railroad,
and, as always, active in Republican politics.
* Anson George McCook, Republican congressman from New York, 1877-1883; sec-
retary of the United States Senate, 1883-1893; chamberlain of the City of New York,
1895-1898; member of the Committee of Seventy.
* In 1 892 Roosevelt had instituted proceedings against Samuel Thomas, then treasurer
of the New York Republican Committee, for soliciting campaign funds from federal
employees. An active supporter of McKinley, Thomas was being mentioned in 1895
as a possible replacement for Roosevelt on toe Police Commission.
480
dential Convention. The shrewdest among them are, I think, McKinley men;
and the decent people are all embittered against Platt, so that it would be
very difficult to make them join with his people, even merely to send two
Reed Delegates. I shall try to fix up some arrangement by which I can go
with another Reed man, whether the latter be for Platt or Brookfield; but
just at this moment I don't see my way clear to success.
The absolute cowardice and dishonesty of the Platt people who now
control our Republican State politics, was shown at the Republican State
Convention.
This summer, I have, as you know, been careful to identify myself in
every way with the Republicans. Hill has attacked me violently as a Repub-
lican; and I have made an equally savage counter-attack upon him. He has
made me the arch foe of the Democracy. The Clergy of all denominations
are standing by me with the utmost enthusiasm.
Hill has committed the Democracy to attacking me and my course; and
also to attacking the principle of closing the saloons on Sunday. Not only
common honesty; but every consideration of expediency, indicated to the
Republicans to follow the opposite policy to the one pursued by the Demo-
crats; yet, the Platt people prepared a platform from which every allusion
to the Excise matter was struck out, and in the Committee on Resolutions
they voted down even a resolution endorsing our course in honestly enforc-
ing the law. If the platf orm had gone through in this shape I would have been
absolutely debarred from saying a word for the party; and what is much
more important, we would have been beaten overwhelmingly, for the excise
issue is the main issue in our State. Warner Miller, however, made a bold
fight in open convention and got in a plank, which while not very satisfac-
tory, still does give us a chance of success and enables me to support the
party. This was done in spite of every effort of the Platt people; but the
union of the Brookfield people with the country Republicans \vho are afraid
of church-going voters proved irresistible on this one point.
I bore you with this account of our rather parochial politics just so that
you may understand that I seriously mean what I say when I tell you that I
have no real hold on the party machinery here, and cannot under the present
circumstances get such a hold without sacrificing my self-respect. The
chance for future political preference for me is just about such a chance as
that of lightning striking. In the meanwhile, however, I have certainly ac-
complished a great deal in my present position; and I have what is, perhaps,
as great a satisfaction as any man can have, the knowledge of having per-
formed a difficult and important work well. It would be mock modesty for
me not to say this. But it would be self-deception if I thought that I had
gained a permanent position, or opened any future career. However, I have
had a thoroughly enjoyable time, and I am over-joyed that I took the
position.
Give my warm love to Nannie. Tell me a little about Bay's plans. Yours
always
481
580 • TO WILLIAM LAFAYETTE STRONG M.R.L.
New York, September 17, 1895
Dear Sir: The Police Board has in its possession a section of the old Stuy-
vesant pear tree, of which there is a picture in the Governor's room at City
Hall. The Police Board has no appropriate place in which to keep this very
valuable and interesting relic of early Manhattan, and the Board thinks it
would be peculiarly appropriate to have the section of the trunk put under-
neath the picture of the old pear tree in the Governor's room. If you con-
sent that this be done the Board will forward the relic to you at once. Most
certainly we should all try to preserve any relic telling, as this does, of the
past of the city, and there are no facilities in the Police Department for its
preservation.
Trusting to hear from you favorably, I have the honor to be, with great
respect, Yours very truly
581 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, October 3, 1895
Dear Cabot, Things are so hopelessly mixed so far as politics are concerned
and matters have gone so much away from our local stand point, that it has
become almost amusing.
First, as a piece of irrelevant information, I had a chance at the Civil
Service dinner the other day to hit Godkin and his local Civil Service Reform
colleagues square between the eyes. Godkin was not present. He will not
come to dinners where I am; but his colleagues were present, and I included
him specifically by name. I explained that they were utterly inefficient; that
they grossly mismanaged the law; and that I would have been quite unable
to get good material for the Police if I had been kept under them; and that
our own Civil Service Board was ten times as effective, and really did rule
out all questions of politics, while theirs did not.
It was not an important matter, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.
The country Republicans and all the decent church-going Republicans
are very strongly in my favor. The Platt machine people, especially in this
City, are on the verge of open war with me. I have never alluded to Platt
or any of his henchmen in any speech this summer.
I have made a warfare on the Democracy, which I could very easily do,
as it was controlled by Hill and Tammany. I have even kept out of factional
fighting between the Brookfield and Platt people. The truth simply is, that
1 Manuscript collections of the Municipal Reference Library, New York City.
1 Lodge, I, 181-183.
482
they will not pardon me for having administered this office honestly and
fearlessly. Lauterbach,2 the Chairman of the Republican County Committee,
the other day gave out an authorized interview as Chairman, in which he
stated that the Republican Party was not in any way responsible for Roose-
veltism; and that there was but one Republican, and that was Grant, on the
Police Board. I am having just about such a time as you would have if
Barrett and Elijah Morse3 had complete control of the Republican Party in
Massachusetts.
I receive from all over the State requests from Church bodies and non-
partisan bodies to speak before them; but these requests I refuse. If I speak at
all outside of the city I want to speak to Republican meetings.
My work here in this office is so very engrossing and exhausting that I
have had very little time to go into outside politics; but I am making my
fight in the strongest way as a Republican, and I do feel a little irritated at
the way the machine men ignore what I have done.
I may make one speech outside the State at the Republican Club of
Massachusetts. Tom Reed has asked them to ask me. If he goes I shall have to.
Don't think I lack interest in the lovely time you and Nannie are having.
Edith and I talk over often your trip through the Loire country and in
Spain; but literally I am being driven to death by the work here and the
responsibility.
The Republican machine men have been loudly demanding a straight
ticket; and those prize idiots, the Goo-Goos, have just played into their hands
by capering off and nominating an independent ticket of their own. The
ticket is of excellent gentlemen, many of them good Republicans; but whom
the Republican Party won't accept, and who cannot possibly be elected.
The result of this is that there actually is no single clear cut issue before
the people. No party has dared either to attack me or champion me; and
they all dodge the Excise Question. I am speaking almost every night with
houses jammed and packed with people wherever I go; but all I can do is to
stand up for the Republican State ticket, and ferociously denounce Tam-
many and the State Democracy.
The cowardice and rascality of the machine Republicans; and the flaming
idiocy of the "better element" have been comic, and also disheartening.
Another most annoying thing has been in connection with our book.
The Century people have deliberately suppressed our signatures to the dif-
ferent pieces, so there is nothing to show which of us wrote them. I have
written them that the information must be promptly supplied in the form of
an extra leaflet put into each book; and that the change must be made in the
table of contents itself before a single other volume is printed.
8 Edward Lauterbach, New York lawyer; chairman of the Republican County Com-
mittee, New York, 1895-1897; "Smooth Ed" to his political opponents.
'Elijah Adams Morse, Republican congressman from Massachusetts, 1889-1897.
Known as "Rising Sun" Morse (he was the manufacturer of Rising Sun stove polish),
he was a vivid, rather then an exemplary, figure in Massachusetts politics.
483
The enclosed from the Century will show that the mistake is being rec-
tified.
Just at this point I received your most welcome letter of the 2 2nd, ult.
It gave me just the advice I needed to have. I think you are quite right, I shall
call on the State Committee and see if I cannot go out in some of the Coun-
try districts; but I have already been told that the State Committee, which
simply registers Platt's decrees has issued a mandate that I am not to be asked
to speak; and that they will not allow the regular Republican local Commit-
tees to ask me to speak if it can be prevented.
As for my being a United States Senator, I have, as I wrote you, just
about as much chance of being Czar of Russia.
Things in this city look badly; but I cannot help feeling that we shall
carry the State. Always yours
582 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ M SS.
New York, October 4, 1 8 9 5
My dear Mr. Schurz: I have been so busy that I have not had time to tell you
how glad I was that I took your advice and reviewed that parade;1 and,
also, I wrote direct to the Staats-Zeitung about their statement that I had a
grudge against Irish-Americans and German-Americans. I hope the other
German papers took notice of this letter. Faithfully yours
583 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, October n, 1895
Dear Cabot, Another note, to be filled full of my own interest in these
parochial politics!
I can't help writing you, for I literally have no one here to whom to
unburden myself; I make acquaintances very easily, but there are only one
or two people in the world, outside of my own family, whom I deem friends
or for whom I really care.
Well, at least the greatest dangers are past. I am in line with my party;
we have nominated a fusion ticket locally; and I can give both that and the
State Ticket hearty support. But the attitude of the Germans has caused a
regular panic among our people, from Platt to Strong; and they have all run
away from the issue, with the result, of course, that they have not helped
themselves in the least, and have immensely strengthened the enemy. Strong
has actually been endeavoring to make me let up on the saloon, and impliedly
1 Roosevelt had surprised the German-Americans by accepting an invitation to review
a parade of protest against his enforcement of the Raines Law. His open amusement
at their hostile floats and placards won the day. The climax came when a large, near-
sighted parader, searching the stands, shouted: "Wo ist der Roosevelt?" Roosevelt,
leaning over and smiling, called back, "Hier bin Ich!"
1 Lodge, I, 183-184.
484
threatened to try to turn me out if I refused! It is needless to say that I told
him I would not let up one particle; and would not resign either. The Re-
publican County Convention came within one ace of passing a resolution,
which went through their committee of Resolutions, disavowing all responsi-
bility for me, and stating that the Republican party had nothing to do with
me. Two or three of my friends, by threatening a bolt, stopped this; but
neither the Republicans nor their local allies made any allusion to our work,
or dared even to say they believed all laws should be enforced. Tammany,
fortunately, is less reticent, and they have attacked me by name, and de-
nounced me for enforcing the law in a "severe and unintelligent" manner.
It is almost comic to see the shifts of our State and City party managers in
keeping me off the platform; it is at times a little difficult for them, for when
they let me go on, I attract more of an audience, and receive more applause,
three times over, than any other speaker.
I have no real standing among the party managers, of either side; and I
have too much support from the cranks. But at any rate I shall go right on
in the course I am pursuing. Yours
584 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS MSS.°
Oyster Bay, October 13, 1895
Darling Bye, Indeed we shall be most delighted to take 6891 on those terms.
We did not think it fair to make any offer ourselves, for we could'n't pay
what you could get elsewhere; but it will be a great advantage for us; it will
keep me in my district, and the children near the Park, and we love the
house, and it will continue to give me a place to which to go, and now and
then to take Edith, while we are staying out here.
We are expecting any day to get a letter or telegram telling us when the
wedding is to be. I do hope you can spend this winter in London. What a
surprise the news will be to all your friends here!
I have just come out here this (Sunday) morning; I was all the week in
town, and I shall only be out here for part of each Sunday, and on no week
day, until after election. Up to seven or eight I work at the office; and every
evening I speak. The party leaders, great and small, have come as near cast-
ing me off as they dared; I only speak at outside meetings; but I attract huge
audiences, and have a very good popular following. It is an entire mistake
however to think that I have gained any strength politically; I have none
whatever. Always your loving brother
What a goose Sackville2 is.
1 The home of Anna Roosevelt, 689 Madison Avenue.
* Lionel Sackville- West, Baron Sackville of Knole. His inept conduct, while minister
to the United States in 1888, in the episode of the Alurchison letter (see Nevins,
Cleveland, p. 429 ff.), brought to an end his undistinguished diplomatic career.
485
585 ' TO SETH LOW LOU) Ms*.
New York, October 15, 1895
My dear Low:— Your letter pleased me particularly. I am glad you liked
what I said in the Herald. Later on I shall be more enthusiastic in my utter-
ances; but at the moment I was gunning for the Goo-Goos in what has
proved the vain hope of getting them to take a different view of the matter,
and to support the fusion ticket. Of course it is the only thing to be done.
I think the Committee of Fifty did all that was possible. I confess that I feel
very indignant with the Republican machine for not taking the stand that
they endorse the honest enforcement of law; but I have had too much ex-
perience in politics, I have done too much rough and tumble political fight-
ing, to refuse to take the best course which is possible at the moment merely
because it is not as good a course as it ought to be; and I certainly would not
let my personal feelings come in, even though as in the present case, I think
it was in the highest degree unjust to me and unwise from the political stand-
point not to accept the Tammany challenge and to fight fairly on the issue of
the honest enforcement of the law, stating that on this issue good citizens
were a unit, whether they believed in closing the saloon on Sundays by law,
or in opening them as a result of a referendum.
I am now literally worked to death; but after election I must have a
chance to see you and talk over a number of important matters. Faithfully
yours
586 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE "Printed*
New York, October 1 8, 1895
Dear Cabot: You are doomed to read another letter filled with parochial
politics. One danger at least I have surmounted; I met the Mayor fair and
square on the Excise question; and I told him no matter what he did or what
stand he took, I would not alter my course a particle; and that I should make
it clear that the entire responsibility for the split between us on this issue
rested with him. He was terribly angry; but when he found I would not
change, and the crisis came, he was more afraid of me than of all the Germans
who were pushing him from behind; and he said he would do nothing until
after election. I care very little what he does after election.
The Republican machine has acted as badly toward me as it possibly can.
The Platt people really seem bent on making me refuse to vote the fusion
ticket. Lauterbach, the Chairman of our City campaign Committee, has not
only read me out of the party, but Grant2 as well, stating that Murray and
1 Lodge, 1, 188-189.
* Frederick D. Grant.
486
Kerwin were excellent Republicans,3 and were turned out for the sake of
two men who are not Republicans at all. He has fully stated this again and
again. The State and City Committees have resolutely declined to allow me
to speak at any meeting over which they had control. It made no difference
as far as the State Committee is concerned because my work here is so
engrossing that I could not go to any place whence I could not return by the
night train; for I cannot afford to be absent a single entire day; and all the
State Senators within a striking distance of New York are Platt men pure
and simple; but you can gain an idea from this of the absolute hopelessness of
my trying to do anything with the machine as it now is. Nevertheless, I speak
for the State and City Republican ticket every night and two and three times
a night. The meetings I address are more largely attended and more fully
reported than those of the regular party organizations.
Last evening, I spoke at an immense Republican mass meeting in Baltimore,
where I was the guest of the evening. We have a good chance of carrying
Maryland. I went to Baltimore on the 3:20 P.M. train, and took the mid-night
train back. I have so far, with no little self command, refrained from hitting
at any of the Republican people; but after election is over, I am far from
certain that I shall keep my hands off them. However, if possible, I shall wait
until I see you before taking action. Their conduct toward me has been base
to a degree; and they have greatly injured themselves by flinching from
the issue. Thanks to the way I have rallied the church-going people and the
City Vigilance people, we stand a fair chance of winning (in spite of the
idiocy of the "goo-goos"); but had they made the fight boldly along
the Ikies I had marked out, there would not have been a shadow of doubt
as to the result in either State or City.
Last Saturday night I spoke at an immense meeting over which Joe Mur-
ray presided; the other speakers included the Paulist Father Doyle,4 and a
Methodist preacher Dr. Iglehardt,6 both of whom attacked Tammany Hall
ferociously. If the Republicans had followed my lead this would have been
a regular Republican meeting under the auspices of the City Committee;
8 Charles H. Murray and General Michael Kerwin, both Republicans, were removed
as police commissioners by Strong to make way for the appointments of Roosevelt
and Grant. While collector of internal revenue and police commissioner, Kerwin,
the editor and proprietor of the New York Tablet, had been under constant attack
by reformers.
* Alexander Patrick Doyle, Catholic missionary and publicist; editor of the Temper-
ance Truth, 1892-1903; founder of the Temperance Publication Bureau; general
secretary of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union, 1894-1904; manager of the Paulist
Press, and editor of the Catholic World, 1893-1904, the leading Catholic magazine.
Father Doyle, a civic reformer, was a Republican in politics. After his death, Roose-
velt, who had come to know him well, wrote: *1t was with Father Doyle that I first
discussed the question of my taking some public stand on the matter of race suicide
.... I have never known any man work more unweariedly for . . . social better-
ment . . . ."
"Ferdinand Cowle Iglehart, DJD., author of King Alcohol Dethroned (New York,
1917).
487
while as it was I had to hold it under the auspices of one of my own assem-
bly district Republican Clubs.
In great haste, I am, Always yours
P. S. — Tom Reed appeared here on Thursday and called on me at once,
I went around to see him on Friday morning. I had a very pleasant talk with
him. I was amused at his humorous and thorough understanding of my own
relations with the machine here. He asked me with great interest about you;
and laughed himself purple over my account of the persistency with which
you look at my position here through spectacles which are not merely rosy
but crimson. He is in excellent health and temper, and thinks the drift is his
way. He tells me I may have to go on to Boston next week to speak at a
dinner for him.
587 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, October 20, 1895
Dear Cabot: On Monday last in pursuance of a long standing promise I had
to deliver an address in Boston. I found the audience much more in sym-
pathy with me than, I regret to say, a corresponding New York audience
would be. I was more touched than I can say to see in the very front row
your dear mother and John. I only had time to shake hands with them after-
wards. Sturgis Bigelow was present too, so that all your immediate belong-
ings showed their usual loyalty to me. Sturgis took me around to the Club
for a small hot supper before I caught the midnight train to come home.
I am sorry to say Quigg will no longer have anything to do with me. He
insisted upon being given the Police advertising which, as you may recollect,
was taken away from the Tribune last year and given to the Press by Platt.
The Tribune also applied for it, as did the other Republican papers. I fol-
lowed what was obviously the proper course of giving it to the lowest
bidder. Quigg, himself, then put in a bid of just one-sixth the amount that he
charged the City last year; but the Tribune under-bidding got it. Quigg
took the result in high dudgeon and went about explaining that I was his
"creation," his personal appointee, and had been guilty of base ingratitude.
He is a goose.
This morning I had a note from Edith (I have not seen my family for
nearly a week) in which she says "I think you have been wonderfully judi-
cious in your speeches. I think Cabot would approve of them. I only wish
you had not said the Goo-Goos had gone silly."
Edith always keeps you in view as a mentor. I did completely lose my
temper with the Goo-Goos, and gave them two or three slashing blows.
Our fusion ticket is on the whole very good. It is decidedly better than
the fusion ticket last year. It is of the utmost importance to elect it over the
Tammany ticket; and it is hard to control my indignation at the action of
1 Lodge, I, 190-192.
488
the Goo-Goos in running a ticket of their own on grounds that are so trivial
that it is really difficult to state them; as for understanding them, why the
Goo-Goos themselves don't do that.
Last night there was a big Republican meeting held by the County Com-
mittee in Carnegie Hall. Of course I was excluded, so I went up and ad-
dressed a meeting of the same size in support of the fusion ticket and against
Tammany, this meeting being organized specially for me. So far the incident
is common place; but to my immense amusement the audience at Carnegie
Hall most loudly demanded me. They are all Republicans of course, and they
gave Lauterbach and Quigg and the other speakers perfunctory applause;
and then of their own accord they would cheer for me. The result was that
Lauterbach in his speech had to incorporate some statements as to my worth
and services.
I spoke at the Republican Club dinner in Massachusetts where we gave
Tom Reed a send off. I sat on Greenhalge's right. He spoke to me most
feelingly of you, and said he never could say how much he had missed you
and longed for your advice and help this summer. He remarked that he had
no idea how much he leaned on you until you went away, for that there
was literally no one who could in anyway take your place.
It was like a fresh spring after a fetid pool to get among those Republi-
cans; I mean Greenhalge, Wolcott, Lyman,2 Frank Appleton,3 Frank Lowell,4
George Meyer,5 and that very good young fellow Moody,6 who is running
in Cogswell's pkce. What a contrast they are to the men who manage our
Republican campaign here. Of course they are literally unable to understand
why any Republican could possibly question the propriety of what I have
been doing here, or indeed the necessity for it; and they were most curious
in their inquiries as to what Platt and his lieutenants could mean.
I enclose you a speech which Lauterbach has just made. He and his
allies have been going all around attacking me in this manner. Of course they
* George Hinckley Lyman, Boston lawyer, collector of the port of Boston, member
of the Republican National Committee, chairman of the Massachusetts State Com-
mittee.
8 Francis Henry Appleton, Boston man of affairs, state representative, 1891-1892;
senator, 1902-1903.
* Francis Cabot Lowell, Boston lawyer and jurist.
B George von Lengerke Meyer, one of "the inner group which dominated the bank-
ing and commercial activity of Boston," later rose to national prominence in the
Republican party. From 1900 to 1905 he was ambassador to Italy, where he greatly
enhanced the influence and prestige of the Embassy. In 1905 he became Roosevelt's
emissary to St. Petersburg, presenting the President's peace proposals to the Czar
in person. Roosevelt then appointed him Postmaster General; he remained in the
cabinet as Secretary of the Navy for Taft. Meyer was a personal friend of both
Roosevelt and Lodge.
'William Henry Moody, although just beginning his political career, was at this
time already a prominent Massachusetts lawyer. He served in Congress until 1002,
when Roosevelt appointed him Secretary of the Navy. He performed his most
effective services for the President as Attorney General, 1904-1906, during the anti-
trust prosecutions. Roosevelt appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1906.
489
do the ticket an incalculable amount of harm. They have for months been
sedulously inculcating among the Germans and doubtful voters that we are
wrong in our Excise policy. I really think they seem anxious to beat the
fusion ticket, so that they may turn around and say it is my fault. As for the
Goo-Goo people, who are running a straight ticket, their folly is literally
incalculable. I enclose you a letter I wrote them about it.
I have revelled in your description of Southern France. I am taking the
letter out to show Edith. Don't think because I am so absorbed in my work
here that I don't appreciate to the full your letters; but it has been an awful
struggle, and I have been very lonely. I have not had one political friend of
any weight From whom I could get a particle of advice or of real support.
Now it seems to me as though, through no fault of mine, we are to meet
defeat in this City. The only thing that can save us is the campaign that I
and three or four of my friends have waged. I doubt if this will be sufficient
in view of the folly and stupidity of our own party managers and of these
Goo-Goos. However, whether defeat comes or not, I am entirely prepared
for every attack that will be made; and I shall not alter my course here one
handsbreadth, even though Tammany carries the city by fifty thousand. I
cannot but believe that in the end decent Republicans, not only here, but
elsewhere, will support my course. Always yours
588 • TO PREBLE TUCKER Printed 1
New York, October 22, 1895
Dear Sir: Of course, I have all along appealed to the conscience vote. Equally
certainly whenever the conscience vote acts without common sense I am all
separate from it. If you read a full report of what I said, you would have
seen that I spoke most highly of the conscience vote and of the purity of
the motives of the Good Government Club men; but emphasized the fact,
which is familiar to every student of history, as well as to every practical
politician, that when conscientious men act in a silly manner they may be
quite as noxious as the basest foes of good government.
If you will study the effect of the action of the political prohibitionist in
this country you will not only see what I mean, but you will understand the
extreme danger to which you and your friends are exposing, not only the
cause of good government in New York, but your own Good Government
*New York Times, October 23, 1895. Preble Tucker, with other Good Government
leaders, was supporting an independent ticket for city and state offices in 1895. Roose-
velt; declaring that this maneuver would permit Tammany to defeat the Platt-Strong
Fusion candidates, had described the Good Government campaign as "the conscience
vote gone silly." In a letter published in the New York Times on October 22, Tucker
contended that Roosevelt's enforcement of the Excise Law was itself an act of
conscience, inexpedient politically. He added that, in the present instance, he re-
gretted Roosevelt's "desire to beat Tammany has placed you [Roosevelt] in the
position of defending expediency against plain duty and principle." This letter is
Roosevelfs reply.
490
Clubs. I am a little at a loss to meet your argument, because, frankly, it is
difficult to understand how anyone can seriously compare the causes of a
public official who keeps his oath of office and enforces the law with the
course of a political organization which deliberately chooses to help the
enemies of law by dividing the forces of the adherents of decent govern-
ment. I cannot but think that such an argument shows a radical misunder-
standing either of the duties of a public officer or of the proper functions of
bodies like the Good Government Clubs.
Of course the argument of expediency cannot enter into any ordinary
case of the enforcement of law. The honest enforcement of law by public
officials lies at the foundation of civilized government; but no civilized gov-
ernment can ever succeed if its politicians, its public men, and its citizens
interested in public affairs, do not pay full heed to questions of expediency,
both practical and political, no less than to questions of principles.
Do you know how our Constitution wTas formed? Have you ever read
the Federalist? If so, you know that the Constitution could not have been
formed at all if questions of expediency had not been given full weight no
less than questions of principle. You also know that Alexander Hamilton, the
chief champion in securing the adoption of the Constitution, was entirely
opposed to most of the provisions incorporated in it. Had he obeyed your
principle, and because he could not get everything, refused to support the
best of the only two practicable courses, he would have been a mere curse
to the country.
You say you are obliged to support the principle of non-partisanship in
local offices. Now, in your own ticket you have been careful to nominate
men of both parties; to have the candidate for County Clerk a Republican,
and the candidate for Register a Democrat, and to divide as nearly as pos-
sible, the Judgeships between the two parties. You have deliberately striven
to bring about a representation of the two parties. Your ticket falls short
of your own ideal; perhaps the fusion ticket may not come quite as near
to this ideal; but it is a very good ticket; it does represent a union of Demo-
crats and Republicans, and it is the only ticket which there is a chance of
electing. It comes quite as near the principles for which you contend as did
the ticket which you supported last year.
If you construe your pledges to mean that you never will support any
ticket which has any chance of election, why, of course, you have no excuse
for existence. I hope that in the end you can educate the people of this city
up to the highest standard in non-partisanship in local affairs, but the course
you now are following is of all others the most effectual to prevent them
from being thus educated. At times it may be necessary to run a ticket sim-
ply as a protest against the action of the machine, but when the machine
does well such a course is ludicrous.
If the Republican Party had run a straight ticket this year, I would my-
self doubtless have supported any respectable fusion ticket; but when the
491
Republicans agree to put into the field a fusion ticket which is on the whole
excellent, which is indorsed by the best Democrats, and which has the cordial
approval of the Committee of Fifty, opposition to it is simply harmful to the
best interests of the city.
You either misunderstood my allusion to the Abolitionists or you have
forgotten the incident to which I referred. I spoke of the abolition vote in
1864. Lincoln was then running for re-election to the Presidency. He stood
for the principles of National unity and of liberty for the slaves. The Abo-
litionists nominated a third ticket, the only effect of which was to help the
opponents of union and liberty, exactly as the only effect of your ticket is to
help the enemies of decent government in this city.
The judgment of every competent historian is that the action of the
Abolitionists in 1864 when they ran the separate ticket showed that that
particular conscience vote had gone mad. Common sense without conscience
will at times breed criminality, but conscience without common sense may
also at times breed a folly which is but the handmaid of criminality. Very
truly yours
589 • TO HENRY WHITE Henry White Mss.
New York, October 28, 1895
My dear White: Just a line as I am nearly driven to death. I received your
two letters and a very nice note from Jack. I do not myself think that there
is anything to be done with international bimetalism now. Silver is at a dis-
count anyway; but I am very glad Lodge and Balfour are to meet and talk
about it.
It was very interesting to hear what you are doing. My own story is a
perfectly monotonous one of working day and night in this Department;
and on the stump. Odds are against us, thanks partly to the misconduct of
the republican machine managers; partly to the idiocy of some of the Good
Government men; and partly to the misbehavior of the Germans, who, not
content with wishing the law repealed, insist on demanding that it be dis-
honestly enforced. Nevertheless the chances are brightening. I have made
the Police Force work like beavers to prevent fraudulent registration; and
in consequence the Tammany registration in the worst wards has fallen
off nearly a third. Moreover, a large section of the catholic clergy, whom
we did not have last year with us, are with us this year because of the
fight I have made. If the forces of reform would only puU together we would
win. All I can say is that we have a fair chance of winning, but that the odds
are against us a little.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. White. Faithfully yours
492
590 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, October 29, 1895
Dear Cabot: This will be the last letter you will have from me. I congratulate
you much. I enclose you at Edith's request a clipping from the Sun which
will rejoice your heart. The exhibition of snobbery in regard to the Duke
of Marlborough this fall has been loathsome.
The Boston Herald and the Evening Post have made long and vicious
attacks on me for my jingo speech the other night. Senator Vilas2 has also
written me an exceedingly angry letter because of my article in Scribner*s
in which I touched on him and his Civil Service Record. Joe Quincy has
also made a public attack upon me for having "violated the principle of non-
partisanship," by going around the country speaking for the Republican
party. So you see I am having a good deal of outside fun. I now speak two
and three times every night. I am inclined to think the tide has begun to set
our way. For one thing the Police have done excellent work — work such as
has never been done before — in preventing fraudulent registration. The
registration has fallen off somewhat in the Republican wards; but it has
fallen off far more in the Tammany wards, thanks to the thoroughness with
which we have gone over the so-called lodging-house or mattress vote. In
Diver's8 district it is one-third less than last year. As I said, the tide is now
our way; whether it is flowing strong enough to reach flood before election
day I don't know.
After election day I shall try to get a day or two in the country every
week, for the strain is beginning to tell on me a little; but after all it is not
enough to speak of, for I feel as strong as a bull-moose.
When I see you I want to tell you all about my colleagues. I have had
two or three rough rimes with them recently, and it has only been by a
mixture of tact, good humor and occasional heavy hitting that I have kept
each one in line.
Give my best love to Nannie. I suppose you will turn up about the
twenty-fourth. Yours always
P. S. — Your cable has just come. Edith was in town to spend the night
with me, and was more moved than she often is at your sending it. "Dear
Cabot," she said, "I do believe that next to myself he cares more for you than
any one else in the world does." All right! I won't attack any one.
1 Lodge, 1, 195-196.
* William Freeman Vilas, Wisconsin lawyer and politician, friend of Grover Cleve-
land, Gold Democrat, Postmaster General, 1885-1888, Secretary of the Interior, 1888-
1889, United States Senator, 1891-1897. His political practices and land speculations
made him the vulnerable target of civil service reformers and Republican politicians.
•Patrick 'Taddy" Diwer, Tammany leader in the Second Assembly District, keeper
of a sailors' boarding house, proprietor of several saloons, sometime alderman, confi-
dant of gamblers.
493
Kerwin, my predecessor, who has been so praised for his "stalwart Re-
publicanism," and compared to whom the Platt people said I was a mug-
wump, has just declared his adherence to the Tammany ticket!
591 • TO CHARLES ANDERSON DANA Printed1
New York, October 30, 1895
Sir: Comptroller Fitch has a very treacherous memory.2 The conversation
I quoted took place in the Mayor's room, where plenty of people were walk-
ing to and fro near us. It was in no way confidential. Mr. Fitch said nothing
about any party endorsing me. What he said was that my conduct in en-
forcing the law would prevent such a ticket as that which won last year
from getting 30,000 votes this year. He did not allude in any way to any
arrest for selling ice.8 The icemen are not his employers. What wrung his
withers was the fact that we enforced the law against liquor-selling law-
breakers exactly as against other lawbreakers.
To show that it is his, not my, memory which is at fault, I mention the
fact that he specified the cases of some four saloon keepers in his own dis-
trict who had voted against Tammany last fall, but whom, nevertheless, we
had arrested because they had violated the law. Mr. Fitch's comment on this
really interested me, because it betrayed such fundamental incapacity to
understand the fact that we were enforcing the law wholly without regard
to the political affiliation or personal influence of lawbreakers. He men-
tioned incidentally that these men would undoubtedly hereafter vote for his
(the Tammany) party, as they preferred to pay a few dollars blackmail and
be permitted to pursue their trade illegally rather than be free from black-
mail and also forced to obey the kw. The Comptroller seemingly sympa-
thized with their attitude; and such sympathy in a public officer who had
taken his oath of office naturally attracted my attention.
Comptroller Fitch is fond of texts from the Bible. Let me cordially com-
mend to him Exodus, chapter xx, verses 2 to 17 inclusive. They contain the
1This letter is from an unidentified clipping in Roosevelt's Scrapbooks, Harvard
College Library.
* Ashbel P. Fitch, replying to a speech of Roosevelt, had written the Tribune that
the refusal of the Republican County Committee to endorse Roosevelt's work as
police commissioner was evidence that Roosevelt had weakened the party and the
Fusion tickets. Fitch claimed he warned Roosevelt during the summer that not 30,000
votes could be obtained by any party that endorsed Roosevelt's actions. He referred
the police commissioner to these lines from Corinthians: "And if any man think that
he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know"; and "All things
are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but
all things edify not."
8 In then- campaign against Roosevelt's enforcement of Sunday closing, the yellow
journals and Tammany politicians manufactured an issue calculated to wring the
hearts of the citizens of New York. Residents of the lower east side purchased much
of their ice from saloons. The Journal and die World described troubled mothers
who, of a summer Sunday, could not obtain ice to cool the hot brows of their sick
children.
494
recital of certain archaic rules of conduct known as the Ten Command-
ments. The sixteenth verse is especially worth Mr. Fitch's attention.
592 • TO MARIA LONGWORTH STORER Printed1
New York, October 30, 1895
Dear Mrs. Storer, It was a great pleasure to me to hear from you. You know
very well that there are but few people in the world who are as dear to us
as you and Bellamy are.
Now I don't want you to be under any illusion as to my position. It does
not mean anything permanent; it does not mean any career. For years I was
here in New York utterly unable to arouse public attention to the gross evils
of the day; utterly unable to prevent the steady increase of corruption, the
steady deterioration of public life. A combination of peculiar circumstances
has given me a chance this last year. I have done all I could to take advantage
of it, for the very reason that I knew that the chance was fleeting; and after
I have done my work here there will come a period in which I shall be
whirled off into some eddy, and shall see the current sweep on, even if it
sweeps in the right direction, without me.
Bellamy has had two terms of honorable service in Congress; he has
therefore held a far more important position than I have ever held, or ever
shall hold. He is for the moment out of it, as I shall be out of it again.
I do not believe it would do any good for me to come to Cincinnati un-
less there were some live issue on which to speak; some issue attracting the
people's attention and at the moment of great importance. If there was an
open fight against the A.P.A. I would gladly come on.
By the way, it may interest you to know that my only two personal
appointees in this office, my private Secretary and my special Roundsman,
are both Catholics. I rather think two-thirds of the appointees to this force
since I have been in office have been of your faith; of course I don't know,
but the gratifying feature of the work this summer has been that the question
of creed has not entered into it in any way. As you know, I am a rather stiff-
necked heretic, and an ultra-believer in a non-sectarian system of State-aided
education. If I thought on any given issue any member of the Catholic
Church or all its members, no matter how high they were, were wrong, I
would attack them just as freely as I attacked those A.P.A. Ministers, but
as long as a man does his duty, and is a good American citizen, I don't give a
rap for his creed.
Did I ever tell you or Bellamy that Ted took much interest in the inter-
national yacht race, and christened the new pig "Sulky Dunraven"? I
thought it was rather good.
Pray give my love to Bellamy.
In great haste, I am, Faithfully yours
1 Maria Longworth Storer, Theodore Roosevelt the Child (London, 1921), pp. 13-14.
495
593 * TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Quigg
Oyster Bay, November 8, 1895
Dear Quigg, I am very glad we had that talk yesterday. There was an amus-
ing sequel. Not an hour after you left a friend came in to tell me the old
story of how you had told the Mayor you were rny creator, and that I had
ruined the party, etc. I heard him through, and then told him that I had just
seen you, that you had just come from the Mayor's office, and that his story
was not only not true, but was the reverse of the truth.
I think there have been certain people who have been anxious to see a
break between you and me.
I was much amused yesterday at the way the Evening Post and Tribune
both attacked me. Good luck, old man! Faithfully yours
594 • TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Quigg MSS.
New York, November 15, 1895
My dear Quigg: The Press is the one paper since the election that has stood
by me.1 This talk about the increase of felonies is a fake. I have not yet got
the figures for November, I won't have them until the first of next month;
but as a matter of fact in October the total number of felonies including
homicide and burglary etc. was about eight per cent less than for October
1894; and we rade some forty less arrests of felons. The City was rather
unusually quiet.2
By the way, when am I to come to that dinner? Don't think I am intru-
sive, but I merely want to know well in advance so that I shall not miss it.
The middle of the week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, are the three
best days for me, after next week. Faithfully yours
595 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT CowleS M SS?
Oyster Bay, November 16, 1895
Darling Eye, I have received Will's letter, and the fourth Hakluyt, which
was very interesting; I shall write him next week.
Edith has not yet received any answer from Mrs. Olney.
I am just finishing three days at Sagamore, during which I have had a
lovely time. It has been pretty cold here for three or four weeks; but the
children enjoy it immensely, and it gives me many real holidays; but when
I am in town I feel rather mean at thinking of poor frozen Edie out here
alone. I am very glad Emily has been with her this summer.
Profiting by the division between the Fusion and Independent tickets, Tammany
had made large gains in New York City.
a Roosevelt's political and journalistic enemies maintained that his changes in the
Detective Bureau and his preoccupation with the Excise Law had resulted in an in-
crease in crime.
496
I work hard at my book1 when out here, and shall finish it by January
i st. The political outlook is rather discouraging. It is entirely on the cards
that I shall be legislated out of existence in a couple of months. I really have
no efficient friends; the Democrats are absolutely under Tammany, and
the majority of the Republicans is largely controlled by Platt. Your loving
brother
Archie is the sweetest thing you ever saw; I enjoy him more than I en-
joyed any other baby except Ted.
596 • TO HENRY WHITE Henry White Mss.
New York, November 27, 1895
My dear White: — Many thanks for your letter. You must pardon a hurried
note in reply.
Tammany's victory has immensely increased my labor; but I have come
to the conclusion, on the whole, that the New York papers headed by the
World, with the Herald a good second, are worse than Tammany. They are
doing everything in their power to make me swerve from my course; but
they will fail signally; I shall not flinch one handsbreadth.
Bayard seems to me to be rapidly becoming a prize fool. I am very glad
Lodge saw Balfour. As you say they are two very fine types of the statesmen
of the two countries.
I met the Lodges on the dock, but only saw them for half an hour. I am
almost driven to death, especially as I am striving to finish the fourth volume
of the Winning of the West.
Pray give my warm regard to Mrs. White. What the Lodges told me of
you both made me regret all the more that it was not my luck to have been
abroad and have seen you. In great haste, Faithfully yours
[Handwritten] P.S. I am of course filled with regret that I can not see
my sister and Cowles; I am most anxious to.
597 • TO FREDERIC REMINGTON R.M.A. MSS.
New York, November 29, 1895
My dear Remington: — x I never so wished to be a millionaire or indeed any
person other than a literary man with a large family of small children and a
taste for practical politics and bear hunting, as when you have pictures to
sell. It seems to me that you in your line, and Wister in his, are doing the
best work in America today.
In your last Harper's article you used the adjective "gangling"; where
did you get it? It was a word of my childhood that I once used in a book
1 Volume IV of The Winning of the West.
1 Frederic Remington, artist, author, sculptor, painter of western scenes and life.
497
myself, and everybody assured me it did not have any real existence beyond
my imagination. Faithfully yours
598 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, December 2, 1895
Dear Cabot: I enclose a clipping from the Evening Post which really pleases
me. I wish you would show it to Reed, and then send it back again. The
Post, in view of my attitude on Reed and our foreign policy, has been
obliged to give up all attempt to support me in my police work.
This is comic rather than serious; but the attitude of the Platt people
here in New York is serious. Nothing ever done by Tammany or by the
Southern Democrats in the way of fraudulent management of primaries
and of stuffing and padding the district associations, has surpassed what Platt
has been doing recently. The decent Republicans are getting savage, and
there is very ugly talk of establishing a separate county organization and of
sending a rival set of delegates to the National Convention. These delegates
will represent the best element in the party here, the element without which
the party will be in a hopeless minority, and will in point of character stand
not much above Tammany; but the evil feature of it is that many of them
will not be Reed men. I am getting seriously alarmed lest Platt's utter un-
scrupulousness and cynical indifference to the wellfare of the party, unless it
redounds to his own personal benefit, should make the decent people here
indifferent on the Presidential question and muddle everything in a desire to
beat Platt. I wish Quigg could have gotten me a chance to see Platt, talk
with him, and sound him on the Reed matter.
I now see two rocks ahead; first that Platt may decide to throw over
Reed; and second, that the anti-Platt people, many of whom are for McKin-
ley or Harrison, may be thrown by Platt into a combination against him
and whomever he supports. The minute I find out anything of importance
I shall communicate at once with either you or Reed. Don't think that I am
gloomy as to the outlook, it is only that I wish to keep the dangers in mind.
Always yours
599 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, December 6, 1895
Dear Cabot: I was delighted to see that you put in your Venezuela resolu-
tion.2 If I ever see Smalley I am going to talk with him about the Venezuela
1 Lodge, 1, 198.
1 Lodge, I, 199.
* Great Britain and Venezuela were engaged in a dispute over the Venezuela-Guiana
boundary. Lodge, as Congress opened in 1895, introduced a resolution stating in part
that "any attempt on the part of any European power to take or acquire new terri-
498
matter now. The seriousness with which you spoke of The Evening Post
editorial made me think I might have sent you the wrong one, so I accord-
ingly enclose what I thought was a duplicate; glance over it, and send it
back. My soul was delighted over the wounded bird's flutterings, and it
made me think that I wrote a pretty good article in The Forum. Yours
always
P. S. — A little later most certainly Edith and I will come on to visit you.
I should very much like a holiday; but I know you appreciate as well as I
that now and then you get hold of a thing you can't drop. If you see Quigg
give him the hint that Platt and I ought to meet. It is barely possible I may
be on for the afternoon of the izth; and to dine that evening; it may be
impossible for me to get out of a speech to the National Civil Service
Reform Ass.
600 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS Motthe'WS MSS.
Washington, December 6, 1895
Dear Brander: Do you know the novels of Brockden Brown? They were
the first real novels published in America. One or two of them are worth
reproduction.
Of course I will gladly review your Introduction of the Study of Amer-
ican Literature in the February number. I suppose they will write me about
it. I will have to get them to send me a stenographer.
I though Kipling's poem excellent; but I did not like the comment of the
paper on it at all. Kipling properly rules us out as aliens; and I should not
much respect him if he didn't; but I can't pardon the cringing attitude of the
editor in writing about it, as if we were colonists ourselves. A couple of cen-
turies hence we may all be in one great federation; but just at present the
Englishman is a foreigner and nothing else. Faithfully yours
60 1 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, December 1 3, 1 895
Dear Cabot: Pray treat this letter as strictly confidential, except as regards
Tom Reed whom it concerns, and to whom I wish you to show it. I find that
Gov. Morton is angry over my support of Reed, and is in consequence relied
upon to support some of the bills aimed at the Police Department and espe-
cially at me. There will evidently be a resolute effort to legislate me out of
office, in some manner this year. I consulted with Reed last summer, and he
tory on the American Continent whether under pretense of boundary disputes or
otherwise" would be looked upon as an act of hostility to the United States. This
resolution was in response to Lord Salisbury's statement in the previous month that
the boundary controversy in no way concerned the United States.
1 Lodge, I, 199-200.
499
then advised me that 1 should support Morton if the delegation did, and if
he was in the field. Of course as a matter of fact I would have to anyway,
or otherwise I could not do anything whatever in this State; but I may find
it necessary to tell Morton that I have told Reed this and that I will as a
matter of course support him, (Morton) if he is put in nomination. Now
will you show this to Reed at once, and let him write me absolutely frankly,
or rather let him speak to you frankly, and you write to me, so that I can
get it by Tuesday morning. I have a sufficiently difficult road anyhow, and
if I can legitimately avoid trouble I want to. Of course you and Tom under-
stand that if you think it wise to go for him at the outset I shall do so; but
I think this would merely hurt all chance of my being useful to him in the
end and it seems to me the best thing on every account that I should be for
Morton if Morton is the State's candidate.
Pray write me at once. Always yours
602 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed'1
New York, December 20, 1895
Dear Cabot: I am very much pleased with the President's or rather with
Olney's message;2 1 think the immense majority of our people will back him.
I earnestly hope he will receive full support from both houses of Congress.
This is a most remarkable vindication of your attitude last Spring; I think
that feature of it has given The Nation peculiar anguish. I am angry with
General Grosvenor's speech, here in New York; he is most willing to show
the white feather, and has no sense of honor, official or personal. I do hope
there will not be any back down among our people. Let the fight come if it
must; I don't care whether our sea coast cities are bombarded or not; we
would take Canada.
The fool of a Mayor could not resist making a sinuous attack on me, but
he got the worst of it, I think. Always yours
P. S. — Last evening I dined at Cruger's to meet the various heads of the
City Departments, Brookfield, Collins, McCook, LaGrange, Murray, Wright,
etc. We had a very animated talk; the overmastering feeling among all was
bitter indignation with Platt; not mere factional indignation, but anger at
the scoundrelly dishonesty with which the primary associations have been
padded, as even Tammany has never dared to pad. They were most anxious
to form a new county committee; but we Reed men succeeded in stopping
this. The danger is over at least for the present. The decent Republicans who
are not for Reed are getting perf ectly willing to throw the whole apple cart
over; and if Platt continues in his present frame of mind we shall undoubt-
1 Lodge, I, 200-202.
* Cleveland's message to Congress on the Venezuela boundary dispute (December 17,
1895), in which the President declared that the United States would defend any
Venezuelan claims which it considered, after investigation, to be just.
500
edly have some ugly talk to meet if Reed is nominated through him. For this
very reason I was of course most anxious to prevent any split in our local
party organizations. A year hence, after the Presidential election, I am per-
fectly willing it should come; and indeed it is evident it has got to come un-
less the Platt people see a great light; but I finally carried my plans, and
there will be at present no break. If we can secure a few decent Reed Re-
publicans as delegates from this city through the regular organizations it will
prevent much of the criticism which would certainly arise if Platt delegates
of the stamp of the Abe Gruber,8 Lauterbach and Company are the only
ones that go for Reed from this city. As I said the danger is temporarily over,
but the Lauterbach people seem literally crazy in their desire to run any
risk to the party if they can benefit themselves; and I don't know how much
more the decent Republicans will stand. The Primaries next Tuesday will of
course go overwhelmingly for Platt, and it is a very bitter thing for the
decent Republicans to have to submit to a victory of people at least half of
whose vote will be fraudulent; there never has been anything like the frauds
of the late registration.
I write you so much at length because I think it most important that you
should try to shape the Reed canvass so that it won't look as if he was beifig
nominated by Platt and Quay. I get nervous for fear of popular clamor being
aroused by this. If Morton is a candidate all will have to go as Morton men
from here.
603 • TO WILLIAM SHEFFIELD COWLES CowleS MSS.°
Oyster Bay, December 22, 1895
Dear Will, Your letter to Ted was awfully nice; you were a trump to think
of writing it. I have really greatly enjoyed all four of the Hakluyt volumes.
We are much interested in the outcome of the Venezuelan matter. I
earnestly hope our government do'n't back down. If there is a muss I shall
try to have a hand in it myself! They'll have to employ a lot of men just
as green as I am even for the conquest of Canada; our regular army is'n't big
enough.
It seems to me that if England were wise she would fight now; we
could'n't get at Canada until May, and meanwhile she could play havoc with
our coast cities and shipping. Always yours
604 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES Cobles
Oyster Bay, December 2 2, 1 895
Darling Bye, Your cable arrived; it was so like you to send it. I went straight-
way to Schwartz' ('without Edie, who I knew would show a tendency to
8 Abraham Gruber, self-educated New York City kwyer and Republican politician,
renowned for his attacks on civil service reform.
501
spend the money on something "useful" for the children); and bought i)
a short animated fight between Greeks and Persians, with elephants, for Ted,
2) a do. do. between Japs and Chinese, with ships, for Kermit, 3) a varie-
gated farm yard for Ethel, 4) a tambourine and a pewter tea set for Archie;
& then to Howards, where I got a silver nail scissors & nail polisher for
Alice. I have left nearly twenty dollars, and good, unselfish Edie has per-
suaded me to be selfish and put this in with her present to get me something
which I much wish, and which will be utterly useless to me — a new, small-
calibre sporting rifle.
I am going to stay out here over Xmas, now.
In the New York political world just at present every man's hand is
against me; every politician and every editor; and I live in a welter of small
intrigue. The Mayor has behaved very badly; and Morton is hostile to me
because of my friendship for Reed. I rather think that in one way or another
I shall be put out of office before many months go by. But, as I do'n't see
what else I could have done, I take things with much philosophy, and will
abide the event unmoved. I have made my blows felt, at any rate! Lovingly
yours
P.S. Do give my love to Helen, & tell her we all look forward to the
day we shall see her at Sagamore Hill.
605 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, December 23, 1895
Dear Cabot, Just a line to wish a merry Xmas to you and Nannie; Edith
and I have been rather gloomily commenting on the fact that our last five
Xmas dinners were eaten at your house; and now we shan't see you at all.
Early in January I must get on to see you if only for a couple of days, for
I must unburden myself.
Here I am living in a welter of small political intrigue, of the meanest
kind. Quigg has been telling me he wished me to go with him as a delegate;
and I find he has also promised Abe Gruber, and is merely waiting to see
which way he can best turn over his own forces. I find that Whitelaw Reid
was given orders that in the Tribune I am not to be mentioned save to at-
tack me, unless it is unavoidable; this came to me in a curious fashion, first
hand. Mayor Strong has been guilty of flagrant double dealing, and intends
to attack us in his message to the Board of Aldermen. The Platt people are
planning to legislate me out of office under cover of a necessary amendment
to the Greater New York bill; and are getting Morton's help by insisting that
I am for Tom Reed, whereas they are for Morton — and are trying to
impress Reed to the contrary meanwhile. Many of the Brookfield wing,
headed by the Mayor, are really hostile to me because they wish either
McKinley or Harrison.
1 Lodge, I, 202-203.
502
Every now and then I feel a momentary discouragement; for it really
seems that there must be some fearful shortcoming on my side to account
for the fact that I have not one N. Y. city newspaper or one N. Y. city
politician of note on my side. Don't think that I even for a moment dream
of abandoning my fight; I shall continue absolutely unmoved on my present
course and shall accept philosophically whatever violent end may be put
to my political career.
There! I've made my wail to the only person to whom I can make it,
and feel better.
The 4th volume of my "Winning of the West" is done.
By the way, the Century people have been asked to bring out in form for
the blind, or rather allow to be brought out, our "Hero Tales" and Kipling's
"Jungle Book." Kipling consented; and I told them of course we consented
too. You have done admirably in your speeches about Venezuela; I do hope
we shall not back down. Reed seems to have done excellently with his com-
mittees; of course I regret the choice of Brosius for the C. S. R. Committee;
he joined with Raines to attack me on behalf of Wanamaker. Yours
606 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, December 27, 1895
Dear Cabot: Your two letters were a great comfort and pleasure. Dont
imagine that I really get very blue. Every now and then I feel sullen for an
hour or two when everybody seems to join against me here; but I would not
for anything give up my experience of the last eight months; I prize them
more than any other eight months in all my official career. You were more
than wise in advising me to come here.
I am deeply interested in what you say about Harrison. It looks now as
if Platt was going to make a serious effort on behalf of Morton, and if that
proves useless to go in for Reed. I must say it irks me a little to have to be
for Morton. I like the old gentleman well enough; but my whole heart is in
the Reed canvass and I feel all the time that very uncomfortable sensation
of sailing under false colors. However, I suppose that by what I have written
and spoken about him I have really given him more help — slight though this
help was — than I could give him by an attempt to get a Reed delegate in
some one New York district. I doubt if I can get to St. Louis myself, and
may have to limit my exertions to get in two delegates from our district who
will be straight out Reed men for second choice.
It seems to me that our action on the tariff under Reed's leadership was
admirable; we have countered on Cleveland most effectively.
I most earnestly hope that our people won't weaken in any way on the
Venezuela matter. The antics of the bankers, brokers and anglomaniacs gen-
erally are humiliating to a degree; but the bulk of the American people will
1 Lodge, I, 203-205.
503
I think surely stand behind the man who boldly and without flinching takes
the American view.
As you say, thank God I am not a free-trader. In this country pernicious
indulgence in the doctrine of free trade seems inevitably to produce fatty
degeneration of the moral fibre. Did you read the Sun's admirable editorial
upon the damage done to England by American correspondents of the Brit-
ish Press, who utterly misrepresented the whole tone of American thought?
Smalley's whole attitude is contemptible beyond words. As for the Edi-
tors of the Evening Post and World it would give me great pleasure to have
them put in prison the minute hostilities began. I felt I must give utterance
to my feelings. I am more indignant than I can say at the action of the
Harvard people. Do you think there would be any harm in my writing to
the Crimson a smashing letter as per enclosed giving my views and saying a
word for Patriotism and Americanism; unless I hear from you to the con-
trary I think I shall send this on. I wish to at least do what I can to save
Harvard from degredation. Our peace at any price men, if they only knew
it, are rendering war likely, because they will encourage England to persist;
in the long run this means a fight. Personally I rather hope the fight will
come soon. The clamor of the peace faction has convinced me that this
country needs a war.
Give my best love to Nannie. Always yours
If you like what I say to the Crimson, return it, and I will send it.
607 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, January 2, 1896
Dear Cabot, I entirely agree with you and Nannie as to your action on the
Cuban resolution;2 vote against it in Committee, and if it comes up in the
Senate explain your vote just as in your interview, making it clear that you
will support any such resolution die moment there is hope of making it
effective, but that until then you will not take part in worse than waste of
time, and in blocking needed legislation. I am going to write to Wolcott.
Here matters are worse than ever. The machine is really infamous. Not
only do they back Parker, but they have induced Grant by the promise of
their aid with McKinley, and he has openly gone in with Parker. I have
said the latter is a liar a dozen times; I cannot shoot him, or engage in a
rough-and-tumble with him — I couldn't even as a private citizen, still less
as the chief peace officer of the city; and I hardly know what course to
1 Lodge, I, 205.
1 Cleveland had issued a proclamation of neutrality, acknowledging the existence of
a state of a rebellion. The resolution before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs,
passed by Congress on April 6, 1896, recognized Cuban belligerency and urged the
President to mediate in behalf of Cuban independence. As this was a concurrent
resolution, executive action was not mandatory.
504
follow as he is utterly unabashed by exposure and repeats lie after lie with
brazen effrontery.3 Best love to Nannie. Yours
608 • TO THE EDITORS OF THE Harvard Crimson Printed1
New York, January 2, 1896
[Sirs:] I have seen a newspaper statement that various professors and stu-
dents of Harvard have urged through your columns the Harvard graduates
and undergraduates to bring such pressure as they could upon Senators and
Congressmen in order to prevent their upholding the honor and dignity of
the United States by supporting the President and the Secretary of State in
their entirely proper attitude on the Venezuelan question. I do not believe
that any considerable number either of Senators or Congressmen would con-
sent to betray the American cause, the cause not only of national honor but
in reality of international peace, by abandoning our position in the peace,
by abandoning our position in the Venezuelan matter; but I earnestly hope
that Harvard will be saved from the discredit of advising such a course.
The Monroe Doctrine had for its first exponent Washington. In its pres-
ent shape it was in reality formulated by a Harvard man, afterwards Presi-
dent of the United States, John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams did
much to earn the gratitude of all Americans. Not the least of his services was
his positive refusal to side with the majority of the cultivated people of New
England and the Northeast in the period just before the war of 1812, when
these cultivated people advised the same spiritless submission to improper
English demands that some of their intellectual descendants are now advising.
The Monroe Doctrine forbids us to acquiesce in any territorial aggran-
dizement by a European power on American soil at the expense of an Amer-
ican state. If people wish to reject the Monroe Doctrine in its entirety, their
attitude, though discreditable to their farsighted patriotism, is illogical; but
let no one pretend that the present Venezuelan case does not come within
the strictest view of the Monroe Doctrine. If we permit a European nation
in each case itself to decide whether or not the territory which it wishes to
seize is its own, then the Monroe Doctrine has no real existence; and if the
European power refuses to submit the question to proper arbitration, then
8 Roosevelt's differences with Parker disrupted the work of the Police Commission
and demoralized the force during the remainder of Roosevelt's tenure. Their quarrels
received wide and unfavorable publicity. Irritated by Roosevelt's persistent assump-
tion of the direction of the commission, Parker became first unco-operative and then
rebellious. He blocked the promotions of the men Roosevelt considered most quali-
fied. This obduracy was partly political in purpose, for Parker insisted that half the
high ranks in the force be given to Democrats. Later, when Roosevelt objected to the
manner in which Chief Conlin was exercising his authority, Parker upheld the chief.
In June Roosevelt, supported by Andrews, persuaded Strong to try Parker on charges
of neglect of duty. The mayor, finding Parker "a disgrace to the city," dismissed him
in March 1897.
1 Harvard Crimson, January 7, 1896.
505
all we can do is to find out the facts for ourselves and act accordingly. Eng-
land's pretentions in this case are wholly inadmissable and the President and
Secretary of State and the Senate and House deserve the highest honor for
the course they have followed.
Nothing will tend more to preserve peace on this continent than the
resolute assertion of the Monroe Doctrine; let us make this present case serve
as an object lesson, once for all. Nothing will more certainly in the end pro-
duce war than to invite European aggressions on American states by abject
surrender of our principles. By a combination of indifference on the part of
most of our people, a spirit of eager servility toward England in another
smaller portion, and a base desire to avoid the slightest financial loss even at
the cost of the loss of national honor by yet another portion, we may be led
into a course of action which will for the moment avoid trouble by the sim-
ple process of tame submission to wrong. If this is done it will surely invite
a repetition of the wrong; and in the end the American people are certain
to resent this. Make no mistake. When our people as a whole finally under-
stand the question they will insist on a course of conduct which will uphold
the honor of the American flag; and we can in no way more effectively
invite ultimate war than by deceiving foreign powers into taking a position
which will make us certain to clash with them once our people have been
fully aroused.
The stock-jobbing timidity, the Baboo kind of statesmanship, which is
clamored for at this moment by the men who put monetary gain before
national honor, or who are still intellectually in a state of colonial depend-
ence on England, would in the end most assuredly invite war. A temperate
but resolute insistence upon our rights is the surest way to secure peace. If
Harvard men wish peace with honor they will heartily support the national
executive and national legislature in the Venezuela matter; will demand that
our representatives insist upon the strictest application of the Monroe Doc-
trine; and will farther demand that immediate preparation be made to build
a really first-class Navy. Yours truly
609 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE "Printed'1
New York, January 2, 1896
Dear Cabot: — I thought your speech admirable.2 You had a great historic
question and you handled it in a way that I seriously think entities you to
feel that your speech will rank as a public document with the speeches of
the great men in time past when they discussed great questions; that is, with
some of the best speeches of Webster and some of the State papers of Adams,
It was a great opportunity and you took advantage of it.
Edith will soon write Nannie asking if we can come on toward the end
1 Lodge, 1, 206-207.
9 Lodge had defended Cleveland's position on Venezuela.
506
of this month, I think she says on the 24th, Friday, to stay over Sunday and
return Tuesday. Whether I can spend more than three days I rather doubt.
I want to see Reed and Cushman Davis; and any one else you wish —
Adams, Phillips, the Hays, the Wolcotts, the Hagues. We are in a very ugly
fight here and I am nearly as bitterly opposed by the Strong-Brookfield
crowd as by the Platt people. I finally broke with the Tribune last week,
and they have come out as our open foes because I would not give in to
the Milholland 3 and Cornelius Bliss4 effort to make a separate county com-
mittee. Here the people who most earnestly demand this committee are
secret foes of Reed; and this has been part of the trouble with the Tribune,
though of course it began when I refused to give them the advertising, and
let it out by open bidding.
I shall send on the letter to the Crimson.
Moorfield Storey's course is just what I should expect from him;3 but I
regret that some of the Harvard Professors could be led into doing what
they have done. They are rapidly confirming me in the feeling that there
ought to be a war.
All right! I will find out about the "Hero Tales" from the Century peo-
ple as you suggest.
We all came in town today. As for my own endless troubles in this office
I shall not try to tell you about them until I see you. At present I literally
have not got a friend in this city of any note, whether a newspaper man or
a politician; and I am rather inclined to think that they will succeed in legis-
lating me out of office; but they will not succeed in making me alter my
position one handsbreadth.
I feel that Morton's candidacy will have a very serious side. Always yours
P. S. — Jan. 3rd, 1896. 1 find that the first edition of two thousand copies
of the "Hero Tales" is sold and over half of the second edition of the same
number.
6 I O • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MSS.°
New York, January 5, 1896
Darling Bye, I was much interested in what you said about Rosy having long
been uneasy over Bayard's inability to understand Salisbury. Cabot had told
me as much; but I thought that his statement might be colored by Pinkey
prejudice. I think that Bayard's misunderstanding of British diplomacy is
largely responsible for the necessity which obliged Cleveland and Olney to
8 John E. Milholland, New York Republican, associated with anti-Platt reform move-
ments, correspondent and editorial writer for the New York Tribune.
4 Cornelius Newton Bliss, New York merchant, conservative Republican, sometime
opponent of the policies of T. C. Platt, treasurer of the Republican National Com-
mittee, 1892-1904; Secretary of the Interior, 1897-1898. He was urged by McKinley
to accept the nomination for the Vice-Presidency in 1900, but declined.
"Moorneld Storey, Boston lawyer, active in the Anti-Imperialist League.
507
speak plainly. They have done well; Cabot has delivered a capital speech in
support of their position.
What a wretched mess the invaders of the Transvaal have made of it. I
am curious to see an accurate account of the fighting.
Well, here we are at 689! Not over-natural, without Bye. Last night
Douglas and Corinne were here; they were delightful, and of course had to
tell us everything about you and Will. Lounsbury, the Chaucer man, dined
here too. Today we had a most pleasant lunch at Mrs. Fred Jones, with La
Farge and Crawford.
Love to Will. Yours ever
I send 450.00 to the jth Av bank the first of each month.
6 1 1 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed 1
New York, January 6, 1896
Dear Cabot: — I quite agree with you on every point. Just as far as I possi-
bly can I am now striving to avoid all possible rows with Parker, and to
confine them to as courteous a basis as possible. The trouble is that in this
issue, the Sun, which, in any emergency of the kind referring to municipal
affairs, always rises above consideration of truth and honesty, backs Parker
because that is part of the agreement with the machine.
At the Greater New York hearing the other day the alliance between
him and Lauterbach and Lexow2 was entirely open. The Tribune dislikes
me, and will take no stand either way; they have never forgiven my refusing
to supply them with the printing business as a job; the World, Journal and
Herald, of course wish to attack the Police Department for being decent,
and so they side with any one who will attack me.
I was at the dinner to Cornelius Bliss at the Republican Club last evening,
and he called on me to speak, which I did. I think I could go to him frankly
myself for my relations are entirely cordial. What do you think about my
calling on him?
I have received an extremely kind letter from Harry Davis, which I shall
answer at once. Always yours
6 1 2 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MSS.°
New York, January 12, 1896
Darling Bye, I am about to go to lunch to meet Norman, the "Chronicle"
man; he was in Harvard right after me. He has done good work here.
1 Lodge, I, 207-208.
'Clarence Lexow, a Republican politician, was chairman of the state senate com-
mittee which, in 1894, investigated corruption in the New York police force. Lexow
himself took only a perfunctory part in the proceedings of the committee which
uncovered shocking conditions within the force. He was primarily a party man, a
stalwart supporter of Plate during the latter*s years of political eminence.
508
The enclosed clipping gives an interview with Rosy which I am bound
to assume was not malicious. I have never thought Rosy over bright; but
I did not suppose that he was silly enough to become the tool of Byrnes, and
to contribute his mite on the side of the enemies of decency in our present
very critical fight for good government in New York.1
This week, in addition to the unending and harassing strain of managing
the Department and at the same time fighting the most unscrupulous and
powerful politicians and newspapers in the country, I had to do some out-
side work, in the shape of attending the Harvard Overseers' meeting, and
going to Chester in Pennsylvania, which gave me three nights on the cars.
I am so busy and Edith too has had so much to do that it has been impossible
to get a glimpse of any one socially. We were awfully sorry about the death
of the poor little Marquand baby.
With love to Will Always yours
613 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed *
New York, January 19, 1896
Dear Cabot, I have written to the Century people for the accounts.
Nothing can be done with Wolcott; he is an impossible person to work
with. Indeed I think it would be well if all the ultra silver men left our party.
They are on the whole a weakness.
The Harvard Graduates Magazine is now assailing me with the ineffec-
tive bitterness proper to beings whose cult is nonvirility.
I had a very interesting conference with Platt, and shall tell not only you
but Reed all about it. We got along very well, in an entirely pleasant and
cold-blooded manner. They intend to legislate me out in about 60 days; and
are confident they can do it — sure of it in fact; but I think there may be
delays and obstacles which they don't take into account which may keep
me in until some time in April. I shall not break with the party; the Presi-
dential contest is too important; and I never sulk when I don't go to ex-
tremes. I can't go as a delegate; Quigg and Gruber are slated from my
district; and I will not join the Brookfield people in a bolt which would be
sure to turn out anti-Reed as well as anti-Platt.
Can't we breakfast with Henry Adams (making him ask Willie Phillips)
some time? But what I chiefly wish is to see as much of Nannie and you as
you can stand. I must have a good talk with Tom Reed; if possible you must
be present. Yours
1 J. R. Roosevelt and Thomas Byrnes, the recently deposed chief of police of New
York, had been fellow passengers on the Majestic on a return voyage from Europe.
Byrnes told J. R. Roosevelt that Chief Shaw of the London force had said "a good
many of the crooks that you [Byrnes] drove out of New York and who came here
have gone back again." Mr. Roosevelt dutifully told this to newspaper reporters on
arrival.
1 Lodge, I, 210.
509
6 14 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MsS.°
New York, January 19, 1896
Darling Bye, You are entirely right about Smalley. He is a pleasant, culti-
vated gentlemanly man, well-read and interesting; but he is an ingrained snob
and has'n't a particle of understanding of America. The other day Norman
lunched with me; he is a conceited but intelligent and interesting young
fellow.
The other evening I went to the opera with the Greenes, and to my
utter astonishment Lizzie Gary was one of the party.
My work is as hard as ever; for it now seems likely that in a couple of
months we shall be legislated out of office, and I wish to leave the force
with our work of reorganization practically done, so as to make it as diffi-
cult to undo as possible. Some of it never can be undone; much of it no
doubt will be. In any event I am more than glad that I went into it; and it
will be year that I shall always consider as perhaps the best-spent of my life,
in point of actual, hard, useful, disagreeable and yet intensely interesting and
exciting, labor.
I usually get home in the evening between six and seven.
If it was'n't wrong I should say that personally I would rather welcome
a foreign war!
Love to Will. Yours always
615 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CoivleS MsS.°
Washington, January 26, 1896
Darling Bye, On Friday Edith and I came on here to stop with dear Cabot
and Nannie and we are having just the lovliest time imaginable. Every one
is doing everything possible for us; and we are fairly revelling in the con-
genial surroundings — so much more congenial than New York on its social
side! I can never be sufficiently thankful that I took this police commission-
ership; on the whole I am rather prouder of it than of any other work I
ever did. I do not mind the abuse; I look beyond the moment's weariness
and soreness; and even if they legislate me out of office my main work will
have been done. But there is no society in New York which makes up in
any way for the circle of friends whom I found so congenial here.
I have seen a good deal of Reed; the weight of the struggle is very evi-
dent in his face and I can see how hard it is. The presidency is a great prize!
And there is a bitter fight for it.
Wolcott has just made a very foolish pro-English and anti-American
speech, delighting the fashionable world of New York and Boston, who are
savage in their tory spirit, and servile in their dread of war. But the mass
of the people are sound. I saw Olney, who is a delightful contrast to
Gresham. Between ourselves he does not overmuch admire Bayard. He is
510
far more of a man than the President, and is the mainspring of the Admin-
istration in the Venezuela matter. We dine with him tonight. Smalley has
been here for a week; worshipped by John Hay, of course. He is more Eng-
lish than the English, and has not the faintest idea how the people of the
United States really feel. Cabot has made a tremendous hit with his big
speech on the Venezuela matter; he is bitterly denounced by the whole pro-
English press of the Northeast; but he stands better with the country than
ever before.
The bunnies are all well at home, and we have an undercurrent of home-
sickness whenever we think of them, which is often; though we shall be
back in a couple of days. Edith has done too much ever since she left the
country; the life in New York is hard for, now that the children are so
young.
Love to Will. Yours always
616 • TO ALPHONSE MAJOR Roosevelt Mss.
New York, January 29, 1896
Dear Sir: I have no doubt that you mean well and advise what you think
would be best for the good of the Force; but I am sure that the most certain
way to utterly destroy the usefulness of the Force would be to manage it
as you advise along sectarian lines. If you know anything whatever about
the Police you would know that some of the best men in the Department,
and some of the worst men also, are to be found in the ranks of every creed.
Anything more wicked as well as more silly than the proposal you appar-
ently endorse to discriminate against men because they happen to be Roman
Catholics would be difficult to imagine. I would not tolerate it in the case
of Protestants and I shall just as little tolerate it in the case of Roman Cath-
olics or Jews. It is such nonsense that it is difficult to discuss the proposition
with patience. O'Brien's creed has no more to do with his being a good
detective than Sheridan's had with his being a good general. To give you an
idea of how utterly ignorant you are of what is being done in the Police
Department, I have only to mention that Conlin happens to be a Protestant
and not a Catholic. You complain that we keep a lot of "drunken Roman
Catholics" on the Police Force. As fast as I can I will turn them out, be-
cause they are drunkards, not because they are Roman Catholics; and at the
same time I will turn out the drunken Protestants. You can guarantee that
just as long as I have any say in the Board, the Catholic who does his duty
will stand on precisely the same level with the Protestant or the Jew or the
agnostic who does his duty.
I have not answered your letters fully on this subject before; but I think
it is time you should understand what I think of such a proposition as that
you make. Yours truly
5"
6lJ • TO WILLIAM SHEFFIELD COWLES R.M.A. M.SS.
New York, February 1 1, 1896
My dear Will: — You will pardon my writing you by typewriter; but I
am so driven to death that I hardly have a moment to myself. When I get
home in the evening I have to take piles of papers with me or else to correct
manuscript and proof sheets.
Tell Anna that as I am writing to you I won't write to her this week.
One reason I am so busy is that it seems probable that we shall be legislated
out of office, and I am working under pressure to complete all we have to
do here before we get turned out. I want to leave this Department re-organ-
ized as far as we have the power to re-organize it, with all the vacancies
filled and everything in working order. I can do this in two months more by
working for every ounce there is in me, and I am working accordingly. I
am inclined to think we shall be given the two months or possibly let stay
in until some time in May. I really don't very much care then whether I go
out or not, so far as I am personally concerned, as I will have done the bulk
of the work. If I am let stay until May I shall have put in about the busiest
year I ever did put in, and I think I have accomplished a good deal.
I agree with you about the Venezuela question. The lesson has been
taught by us, and I think it has been learned by England. If the Englishmen
either accept arbitration or come to a peaceful settlement with Venezuela
our point is made, and hereafter European nations will recognize that the
Monroe Doctrine is a living entity. What our people ought to do is at once
to pass measures providing a good fleet and an adequate system of coast
defense; and quit talking.
I have just been reading a rather good English book in two volumes on
Modern Ironclads. It is introduced by Capt. Mahan, who by the way dines
with me tonight as does Col. Greene,1 the author of Army Life in Russia
and of the critical military account of the last Russo-Turkish War.
Corinne has been spending the last five or six days with us; Douglas tak-
ing his meals with us, but living at the Plaza Hotel. Corinne's health is not
at all good, and no wonder for she does herself all out; but it was perfectly
delightful to see her; she was as natural as possible. We had a series of really
satisfactory talks, the first we have had since she and Douglas came home
from the other side. The children, and especially Ted, worship her.
Give my best love to Anna. Yours always
1 Francis Vinton Greene, professional soldier, sent as observer to the Russo-Turkish
War, 1876-1878. His classic account of the conflict, Report on the Russian Army
and Its Campaigns in Turkey, 2877-1878 (New York, 1879), marked him as a military
historian of distinction. Upon his retirement from the Army in 1886, he entered
private business. During the Spanish-American War he served in the Philippines.
From 1903 to 1904 he was the effective police commissioner of New York City.
512
6i8 • TO FRANCIS MARKOE SCOTT Printed1
New York, February 1 1, 1896
[Sir:] In accordance with the suggestion of Assistant Corporation Counsel
John Proctor Clarke, I write to call the attention of your office to the bill,
introduced in the Assembly by Mr. Butts on Jan. 4, '(No. 165,) to prevent
the employment of spies, that is, of detectives, in the administration of jus-
tice. More or less similar bills have been introduced by Mr. Davidson, and
possibly by others. The passage of bills of this character would greatly lessen
the labor of the police, for it would relieve them at once of all responsibility
for the numerous kinds of crime which are conducted in secret behind closed
doors, and which can never be successfully interfered with by policemen in
uniform.
The "Molly Maguires" who terrorized a large section of Pennsylvania
through murder, arson, and violence of every kind, were only broken up
by the employment of the very means which these bills would forbid the
police force of New York to employ. Moreover, there are certain kinds of
crime which can be reached only by the use of detective methods — gam-
blers, keepers of disorderly houses, and law-breaking liquor dealers can
hardly ever be touched otherwise. It would be almost useless to try to
enforce the law against any of them if we were confined to employing uni-
formed police. To a certain degree this is also true of green-goods men and
bunko steerers.
We find that, as a matter of fact, we cannot get convictions against these
criminals unless the complainant can testify to the commission of some defi-
nite act of wrong-doing. In the case of a liquor dealer who violates the law,
for instance, we can hardly ever get a conviction on a mere charge of ex-
posure for sale, and rarely get a conviction unless the complainant can testify
that he himself bought, paid for, and tasted the liquor. It would be far better
to to repeal the laws against gambling, keeping disorderly houses, and selling
liquor at forbidden hours, than to nominally keep them on the statute books
and yet to pass other laws forbidding us to take the only possible methods
of obtaining evidence against the law breakers.
I do not know that it is necessary to point out that the stories related by
certain unscrupulous persons to the effect that policemen sometimes lure
liquor sellers and the like into committing crime are also, without exception
sheer fabrications, invented either by the law-breaker or by his friends. Many
such charges have been made during the past nine months. In each case the
board has immediately investigated them, and has found that they were en-
tirely false. We have not come across a single well-authenticated case.
A policeman merely goes into a place where liquor is being sold to every
one who is admitted and tenders the money exactly as others are tendering
it, and receives liquor exactly as they have received it. He makes a tender
1 New York Times, February 12, 1896.
513
and receives a liquor, as I have said, simply because we find that, as a matter
of fact, no other course secures conviction. Of course the law-breaker when
caught invents any story which he thinks will appeal to the public. In one
instance which was widely reported the liquor dealer alleged that the officer
had procured the liquor under the pretense that it was for a sick child. On
investigation we found that he had bought two glasses of beer. It need not
be pointed out that it would be a very credulous man, indeed, who would
believe that two glasses of beer were purchased for the use of a sick child.
In another case a liquor seller complained that the officer had persuaded him
to sell the liquor under pretense that he had a pain in his stomach. On inves-
tigation the officer, as in the former case, promptly denied the charge and
proved that at the time of making the arrest there were seven other persons
in the saloon, all getting liquor also. Again, in this case it seems unlikely that
even the most innocent saloon keeper would believe that eight men at one
time would all wish to buy liquor solely because they had pains in their
stomachs.
The same denial holds good for the alleged "child-spy" system. There is
not, and never has been, any such system in vogue in the Police Department,
and the outcry about it is absolutely baseless. It is difficult to know exactly
what some of the loudest complainants of the system believe to be the fact.
A few newspapers apparently regard any member of the force from the
Captain of a precinct to a policeman of the Broadway squad as a child spy
the minute he makes an excise arrest. So far as the outcry can be said to have
any basis at all, it presumably refers to a single case of the use of the evi-
dence of a minor to whom liquor had been sold in trying to procure the
punishment of the man who had illegally sold liquor to very many other
children, a man of a class which in some cases make large fortunes by their
peculiarly infamous form of traffic.
It is only on behalf of this type of criminals that the outcry can be raised.
Apparently some people really believe that the police have, in a large num-
ber of cases, used such evidence. As a matter of fact, of the 6,000 arrests for
violation of the Excise law made since the present Police Board came into
power, in but one single instance has the evidence of a minor to whom
liquor was sold been used. In that case it was used without the knowledge
of the board by a couple of policemen who had been doing very efficient
work in arresting excise violators, and who, in dealing with a notorious law-
breaker, who made a practice of selling liquor to children of tender years,
finally secured his arrest through the testimony of the minors, to whom he
had long been accustomed to sell liquor. On investigating the case the board
found the conduct of the policemen had been proper. Such testimony is
never to be used save by the authorization of the board, and only after every
other means to arrest a wrong-doer has been tried, both by the board and
by the Gerry Society, with which the board always cordially co-operates.
As above said, the incident has occurred precisely once during the nine
months we have been in office. It may never occur again; but the board will
not allow any liquor dealer who practices this particularly revolting form of
debauching children to feel that in the last resort they would refrain from
using against him the evidence of one of his victims in order to save both
that victim and the hundreds of other children upon whose lives he preys.
Yours truly
619 • TO WILLIAM WOODVILLE ROCKHILL Rockhill
New York, February 12, 1896
Three Cheers! 1 But where does this leave me as a Republican? When it was
Gresham & Quincey, though I felt ashamed as an American, I did'n't mind
as a party man; but now when I have to be proud of Olney and yourself,
I would like to know what are going to become of my party principles?
All I mind is that I fear this may be a less permanent position, and I
never wish to see you leave the State Department until you go to China as
minister.
Warm regards to Mrs. Rockhill. Yours
620 • TO LUCIUS BURRIE SWIFT Sivift M.SS.
New York, February 14, 1896
Dear Mr. Swift: — Most certainly I shall hear them, and Mrs. Roosevelt
doubtless will also. She is now in mourning for her mother and goes out
very little.
You can hardly have an idea how hard worked I have been these past
nine months. I have been only too glad when I got an evening off to sit at
home and go to bed early.
By the way, I have just asked Carl Schurz to undertake a minute exami-
nation of our Civil Service methods in the Department for the nine months,
and to get full information about every single appointment, promotion, dis-
missal or reduction. Faithfully yours
621 -TO WILLIAM WOODVILLE ROCKHILL Rockhill
New York, February 17, 1896
My dear Mr. Rockhill: Your letter is all right excepting on one point. Of
course I thought at once that a promotion like this might turn you out of
office a year hence. Whether it will be any use trying to keep you in your
position as first secretary, I don't know; but I do know that there are two
or three of us going to make a resolute effort, and I guess we can fix you
up in your former place anyhow. Anyway, I shall have but two favors to
ask of the incoming administration, if it is republican, and both of those
1 Rockhill had just been made First Assistant Secretary of State.
515
will be the retention of people whom no sensible man would dream of dis-
pensing with. Sincerely yours
622 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES R.M.A.
New York, February 25, 1896
Darling Eye: — I have just come home from a tumultuous whirl at Chicago.
I have recently been steadfastly refusing to make any speeches, but on
Washington's birthday I did consent to make the great Chicago speech
under the auspecies of the Union League Club at the Auditorium. McKinley
addressed the meeting last year and Tom Reed the year before. I was re-
ceived with the utmost enthusiasm, and indeed was made the lion of the
hour in Chicago; and during the thirty-six hours that I was there I had to
make not less than seven speeches. Chicago looks at me through the perspec-
tive of space which is almost as satisfactory as looking through the perspec-
tive of time; and, as she does not feel my rule, was loud in her denunciation
of New York for not being grateful to me.
I have had my hands full as usual with both my regular police work and
with politics since I last wrote you. Gradually and in spite of great difficul-
ties with two of my colleagues I am getting this force into good shape; but
I am quite sincere when I say that I do not believe that any other man in
the United States, not even the President, has had as heavy a task as I have
had during the past ten months. In itself the work was herculean, even had
I been assisted by an honest and active public sentiment and had I received
help from the Press and the politicians. As a matter of fact public sentiment
is apathetic and likes to talk about virtue in the abstract, but it does not want
to «r£»tain the virtue if there is any trouble about it. The papers of the
widest circulation have been virulent against me. The democrats of course
oppose me to a man so far as their public representatives are concerned, and
the republican machine is almost as bitterly hostile. Governor Morton in a
feeble way would like to stand by me but he does not dare to antagonize
Platt; he is now so miserable over having to decide whether or not he will
veto the bill putting me out that he is almost sick. As yet they are not sure
of his consent. They have not yet brought the bill in, but I think that in the
end they will bring it in. However, I can afford to look at the result with a
good deal of equanimity; they can't put me out much before I have finished
my year's term of service; I will then have practically done the great bulk
of our work, that is the reorganizing of the Department; we will leave the
Force immeasurably improved compared to the Force we found; and, with
all the worry and hard work, I have heartily enjoyed it. It has been emphati-
cally a man's work, worth doing from every aspect. I feel I have been a
useful citizen, and, though this is a point of very much less importance, I
think that in the end decent people will realize that I have done a good deal
I am writing to you with frank egoism. My excuse must be that I have not
516
worked in any way egotistically, for I can conscientiously say that not one
single step I have taken has been influenced by any considerations save by
those which I have deemed for the public good.
Politically, I have been rather unhappy because I have of course to sup-
port Morton and I want to support Reed. I think, however, that Reed thor-
oughly understands the case as I have taken no steps without his sanction.
Edith has a load off her mind because Mame's operation went off all
right, and Mame is now on the high road to recovery. It was very trying to
Edith as she had to take her down to Bellevue and be in an adjoining room
all the time; but Edith went through it all with the absolute conscientious-
ness and sense of duty that she always shows. To my intense regret it had
to be done the very day I was in Chicago. The children are all getting along
well, and Edith is utilizing all the advantages of New York to the full for
them in the way of dancing schools and the like. Archie is as pretty as a
picture and a darling. I only wish that the future was a little more certain
as far as they are concerned for while Edith is as much convinced as I am
that we should live in the country as long as we can't both live in town and
the country, there are serious disadvantages connected with the children's
education when we have to be in the country during winter.
Give my love to Will. Yours always
623 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, February 25, 1896
Dear Cabot: — This letter is to be shown to Reed as well as being for your
own use. I hope your friend will give me warning before he comes. I am
eagerly looking forward to your visit on March twenty-fifth.
During the past month I have had my hands full in the political business
here aside from the fact of the work I have done in the Police Department.
It has been exceedingly difficult to prevent the Brookfield men from bolting;
all the more so as there was ample justification for it; and I should have been
inclined to head the bolt myself if the Presidency, and especially Reed's
chance for the Presidency, had not been at stake. The absolutely cynical
disregard of decency of Platt and his followers can hardly be imagined. I
will give you two little instances, in the district in which Tom Sturgis is one
of the leaders on the anti-Platt side. The Platt people carried the primary by
fraud so unblushing as to be comic. On examining the rolls of their voters
there were found over six hundred from vacant lots, from houses where no
such men lived, from houses of ill fame, and the like; of course all of these
men were merely repeaters. Moreover there were actually one hundred and
three delegates to the Tammany Hall General Committee; whose names
were published in the list of that General Committee, who nevertheless
voted and were recorded on the Platt side at the primary. In certain streets
1 Lodge, I, 211-214.
517
the Platt people simply took the names on the signs in all the shops along
the streets and voted under them right in order. The leader of the Platt
forces was Stewart. Platt promised him a Gas Inspectorship if he could carry
this district and Morton actually carried out the bargain; although the
fraudulent character of the vote was laid before him, and though even the
Platt County Committee struck nearly a thousand men off the rolls of this
district — when once they had served their purpose and the district had
been safely carried. A very large number of the decent men of the party are
naturally growing to feel that no democratic success could be worse for
them than to be put under Platt's heel, and they will not do anything to
rivet Platt's power upon them.
It is thus pretty difficult for me to keep them from bolting; and Platt
makes my task no easier by quite openly announcing his intention of using
my forbearance as a weapon against me. I am hampered by the fact that I
wish the Party to win, and wish Reed to win. He wishes nothing of the
kind, unless it is to redound to his benefit; and he regards us as fools who
play into his hands because we do not destroy the party if he is to benefit
by the party's success. There is a certain small bill pending in the legislature
to help the Police Department; it doesn't affect us personally at all; it is
simply a small measure for the good of the Department. Grant (who is not
overwise and whose blunders cause me more trouble than Parker's cold
blooded treacheries and intrigues) went to Platt and said he wished him to
support the bill; Platt refused, remarking "I would like to please you Col.
Grant, but I don't care nearly as much to please you as I do to worry Roose-
velt." This gives just about a fair estimate of the man's size and of his public
feeling; he is quite incapable of considering the good of the community, or
anything but his own advantage.
Moreover, I have no question that he honestly (so far as you can use
such an adverb about him) desires Morton's nomination, because he would
have complete control over him. So that in preventing a split, which I have
hitherto succeeded in doing, I can't be certain I am working in Reed's inter-
est directly; indirectly I am, however, because the anti-Platt people are
steadily verging toward McKinley. As I wrote you I shall have to in my own
district turn against the Strong or Brookfield men and probably join with
the Platt men in running Joe Murray and one of their own number; not even
their hostility for Brookfield can make them support me personally.
I have never had a much more severe trial put on my steadfastness than
through this winter. I quite sincerely believe Platt to be as bad a man as
Hill, Murphy or Croker, and just so long as the party is under his domina-
tion it is no better than the old ring of Democracy that we overthrew. Yet
I have prevented a revolt against it because of the damage that revolt would
work to other interests.
As for my own police work, I am steadily, and in spite of infinite obsta-
cles, re-building this Police Force. I suppose we shall be legislated out, but
it can't be for a couple of months I think, and by that time most of my work
will have been finished. Always yours
P. S. — I have just seen a quotation purporting to give an interview with
me in which I boom with delight Morton's candidacy. This is an absolute
fake. I have been in doubt whether to deny it or not, but it seemed to me
best to take no further notice of it. Will you ask Tom Reed whether he
would like to have it denied? If so, I will deny it at once; but it seems to me
to be one of the things that is best left alone. It is a pure Chicago invention.
Congressman Aldrich2 will tell Reed what I have said out there the only
time I spoke of him; Aldrich was present.
I thought your speech on Cuba excellent; one of the best things you
have done. I talked very straight doctrine to the "peace at any price people"
both in my address at the Chicago Auditorium and to the Chicago Harvard
Club. I wish I had been at the New York Harvard dub to give them a little
straight talk too.
624 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, February 25, 1896
Dear Cabot: — Just a line more. The only thing outside of my present work
in which I take a real interest is the question of our attitude toward foreign
powers and therefore of our defence. What has been done in the Navy?
Surely Tom Reed cannot be going to try to throw us down on a question of
an addition to the naval forces and proper preparation for coast defense.
Yours always
625-TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MSS.°
New York, March i, 1896
Darling Bye9 1 quite agree with you that Herbert's message about the navy
was very weak;1 and I am greatly disappointed at the shortsighted folly with
which many of the men in congress look at the whole question of preparing
ourselves for war; nevertheless I believe that in this congress we shall take
substantial steps to provide for the defence of our cities, and to increase our
navy, by perhaps half a dozen battle ships, besides cruisers and torpedo boats.
In a couple of months, I am glad to say, my most harassing and laborious
work will be over, whether I am in or out; and I shall be glad to have it
decided one way or the other. Though Platt and his people are as resolute
as ever to have me out, many of the legislators are very reluctant to take
* James Franklin Aldrich, Republican congressman from Illinois, 1893-1897, Reed's
pre-conventdon campaign manager, was a veteran of Chicago's political warfare. He
was, however, no match for Marcus A. Hanna, leader of the McKinley forces.
1 Lodge, I, 214.
1 Hilary Abner Herbert was Cleveland's Secretary of the Navy.
5*9
district which they controlled I was obliged, in the interest of Reed, to go
in with the Platt men and run Joe Murray on a ticket with one of Lauter-
bach's friends against two of Mayor Strong's Commissioners. It was of course
the only thing to do; but it was very disagreeable having to do it. Upon my
word I do think that Reed ought to pay some heed to the wishes of you and
myself. You have been his most effective supporter; and while my support
does not amount to much, it has yet been given at a very serious cost to
myself.
I have just received an attack from the Boston Herald enclosed in a letter
from an anonymous Bostonian who thinks me a very bad man indeed.
You are emphatically right about the Spanish Minister. Always yours
628 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CoivleS MSS.°
New York, March 30, 1896
Darling Bye, During the last week we have had two visits from Cabot, on
his way to and from his State Convention, where he scored a great triumph.
On his return he spent a couple of nights with us, and was as delightful as
ever, on everything, from politics to literature.
I wish our people would really interfere in Cuba; but the President (who
by the way has just written me a rather long letter, for no particular reason)
shies off from anything except Venezuela. We ought to drive the Spaniards
out of Cuba; and it would be a good thing, in more ways than one, to do it.
Congress ought to take more decisive action; I always hate words unless
they mean blows. But Cabot and his followers do mean blows; though I
doubt if anything comes of it.
Your friend Mrs. Kroub is very nice about me indeed. I have had rather
a hard row to hoe here; I hope I have accomplished something, but I am
not over-sure.
I went on to speak to the boys at Harvard one evening last week, on
athletics, and on the proper Harvard spirit generally, and was a good deal
touched by the warmth with which I was received.
Bob spent a couple of days with us, and then went back to Canada, look-
ing rather seedy.
Ted the other day was walking back from dancing school alone, practic-
ing his steps on the pavement, according to his custom. Passing by two
ladies, one in mourning, he overheard them discussing how to raise mush-
rooms in a green house; whereupon he beamed on them through his spec-
tacles, and joined affably in the conversation, remarking that where he lived
the mushrooms grew in Smith's field! After which they walked on together
in conversation until he got home. From Grant Le Farge we found after-
wards that they were Emily Lardenberg and a Miss Benedict. Yours
522
629 • TO HENRY WHITE Henry White Mss.
New York, March 30, 1896
Dear White: I was delighted to get your letter from the Nile. Lodge's posi-
tion has really been entirely proper throughout this Venezuelan contro-
versy; but the anglo-maniac press, and of course Smalley, have utterly
misrepresented him. I wish I had sent you a little article I wrote for Winty
Chanler's magazine, The Bachelor of Arts. I am very glad our House has at
least passed a decent appropriation bill for battleships and for fortifications.
It is true that they have not done anything like what they should do; but
they certainly have taken marked steps in advance. I feel very strongly,
while our foreign policy should be free from bluster, yet, that it should
emphatically be vigorous. I think that all of England's troubles in the Trans-
vaal now are due to her having at first disregarded the rights of the Boers,
and then under the lead of Gladstone having made a cowardly retreat before
them; that is the kind of magnanimity which does nothing but evil. It looks
to me, I regret to say, as though the English had serious trouble ahead of
them at the Cape and in South Africa generally. I am very sorry for this,
for though I greatly admire the Boers, I feel it is to the interest of civilization
that the English-speaking race should be dominant in South Africa, exactly
as it is for die interest of civilization that the United States themselves, the
greatest branch of the English-speaking race, should be dominant in the
Western Hemisphere.
My work here has been inconceivably harrassing. I am cramped and fet-
tered by all kinds of bad kws. The next month will see whether they will
legislate us out or not; and also whether they will give us some absolutely
necessary powers, which under the decision of the Corporation Counsel it
is now asserted belong to the Chief. Unless we are given these powers I
should not be very sorry to see us legislated out of office, as I will be staying
in with my hands so tied that I could do infinitely less than heretofore. Still,
I could do something, and I should be willing to stay in for a year to come.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. White. Mrs. Roosevelt has had rather a
harrassing winter. She has hardly gone out at all, being in mourning for her
mother; but I don't think she could have gone out in any event, as the five
children take up about all of her time. For the past three months it has
seemed that we have never passed a week without at least one of the children
being down with something, till at times I felt that we were running an
amateur hospital.
Six weeks hence the Legislature will have adjourned and we shall be
either out or in, & shall know exactly what our powers are. I shall be very
glad, for then the hardest and most worrying year's work I have ever had
will be over; and though I have the constitution of a bull-moose it is begin-
ning to wear on me a little. Faithfully yours
5*3
630 • TO WILLIAM SHEFFIELD COWLES CoivleS MSS.Q
New York, April 5, 1896
Dear Will, Your note came, and Anna's, from Liverpool. Tell Anna that I
am really pleased Bryce took my "Bachelor of Arts" piece so nicely; it was
not aimed at England at all, but at our wretched fellow country men who
lack patriotism. Though I feel very strongly indeed on such questions as
municipal reform and civil service reform, I feel even more strongly on the
questions of our attitude towards the outside world, with all that it implies,
from seacoast defence and a first class navy, to a properly vigorous foreign
policy. I think we ought to interfere in Cuba; and indeed I believe it would
be well were we sufficiently farsighted steadily to shape our policy with the
view to the ultimate removal of all European powers from the colonies they
hold in the western hemisphere.
It must have been very interesting to see the launching of the big battle
ships. Why, on our new battle ships, are we putting 4 and 5 inch quick
firers, instead of 6 inch? Is not the 6 inch quick firer a common gun in the
British battle ships? In the secondary batteries, why do we seem to prefer
the rapid fire 6 pounder & even i pounder to the gatling & hotchkiss? Is
this also true of the European navies?
In a month the legislature will have adjourned, thank goodness, and I
shall know "where I am at." The "greater New York" bill does not legislate
me out, and seems improbable that, as late in the session as this, they can
pass supplementary bills for that purpose. But a recent decision of the Cor-
poration Counsel gives the Chief, backed by one Commissioner, almost all
the power over our force; and by an intrigue one of my colleagues, Parker,
has got a hold over the chief; so that unless we get a bill through, which we
are trying to get, to restore the power to a majority of the Board, I shall be
shorn of most of my former influence, and though I can still do something,
it will not be anything like as much as formerly.
Tell Anna I dined at Tizzie's last night, going to the Century afterwards.
I have a busy time ahead of me until May. Yours
P.S. What does Laird Clowes1 wish me to write?
631 - TO EDWARD LAUTERBACH Printed1
New York, April 10, 1896
My Dear Mr. Lauterbach: I am dictating this letter in the presence of my
two colleagues, Messrs. Andrews and Grant, and at the close of the letter
you will see their comments upon it.
1 Sir William Laird Clowes, naval authority and correspondent for The Times, 1890-
1895; edited The Royal Navy, 7V., (London, 1897-1903), to which Roosevelt con-
tributed.
*New York Press, April i$, 1896.
524
I have shown them the typewritten copy of Mr. Parker's statement to
you. The statement is the one which he and I went over with you yesterday
in the corridor of the Capitol, I telling you that his statements were untrue,
and he reiterating their truth. This statement contains a list of the men made
acting captains, or captains and the like, with a note by Mr. Parker as to
who was responsible for the promotion of each man. The statement is writ-
ten in the third person, but you informed me that the original, of which it
is a copy, was signed by Mr. Parker, and he assumed the genuineness of the
copy in his discussion of it with me before you yesterday.2
Nearly a fortnight ago Mr. Quigg told me that such a statement as this,
coming from Mr. Parker, had been laid before Mr. Platt. Up to that time I
had never, as far as I can recollect, even discussed with any member of the
Republican organization the politics of any man recommended for promo-
tion by either Mr. Parker or myself, but I then told Mr. Quigg that the
statement was false; that it was, however, possible that we had promoted
more Democrats than Republicans in the past, because we had promoted the
men purely on their merits, without knowing anything of their politics, but
that it happened that the promotions the majority of the Board were now
anxious to make were, in the majority of cases, Republicans as far as the
Board knew, and I mentioned to him that I personally favor for inspectors
McCullagh, Brooks, Vreedenburgh, Thompson and Sheehan; that I told him
that I could not say that Mr. Andrews or Mr. Grant would agree to all these
appointments, although I knew that they thought well of all five men. I also
mentioned to him the names of several candidates for captains whom we
favored, namely, Groo, Grant, Steinkamp and Norman Westervelt.
The typewritten statement begins: "Never in the history of the force
have Republicans been so largely selected. The list below will show this;
and these selections, as the list likewise shows, have been almost invariably
suggested by Mr. Parker, and he has been the one who has held up the
Democrats. In the last conversation he had with T. C. P. he said that he be-
lieved the force would have to be regenerated mainly, if not wholly, with
Republicans for reasons which he then stated, and with which T. C. P. con-
curred. He continued to hold to that opinion, and his actions will show that
he has applied it. In brief, if party selections are made the test Parker has
been a Republican and Roosevelt a Democrat."
Speaking for Commissioners Andrews, Grant and myself, I wish to say
that it has never occurred to us to try to divide up the appointments and
promotions among us, or to keep memoranda as to who was originally sug-
gested by any given Commissioner, and we have made our promotions purely
•Roosevelt had testified before the Senate Committee on Cities in behalf of the pro-
motions bill. While in Albany he discovered that Republicans were hostile to the
measure because Parker had written Platt and Lauterbach that Roosevelt favored the
promotions of Democrats. Attempting to discredit the bill, Parker maintained that
his veto of Roosevelt's suggestions was the best protection the Republican party had.
Grant and Andrews sustained Roosevelt's denial of these contentions.
with regard to what we thought the needs of the service required and the
merits of the applicants demanded.
But the statement of Mr. Parker that he is responsible for the bulk of the
Republican appointments, and I responsible solely for Democrats is unquali-
fiedly false. I now go over the list of acting captains which he gave, one by
one, and what I say represents the recollection of Commissioners Andrews,
Grant and myself:
Parker's List.
MOYNIHAN, DEM.—
Grant and Andrews.
BRENNAN, DEM.—
Chief (temporarily). Com-
missioner Roosevelt very so-
licitous for his promotion to
captain. Parker opposing till
longer probation had been
had.
THOMPSON, REP.—
Parker.
Facts.
Substantially correct. Was suggested by
the two Commissioners.
Was selected by the Chief, continued by
the Board, was rated by the Board, Commis-
sioners Andrews and Grant taking as much
part in it as Commissioner Roosevelt, and all
four concurred in the rating which resulted in
his getting on the eligible list. I was no more
solicitous for his appointment than were Com-
missioners Andrews and Grant, and merely
stated that as long as we had him on the eligi-
ble list, when his turn came, he should be
appointed.
Was one of the men of whom Andrews
thought favorably before any of the other
Commissioners were appointed. Thompson's
name came up independently in two ways:
There was a vacancy in a certain precinct, and
the Chief suggested two or three men to Com-
missioner Grant as possible candidates, one of
them being Thompson. Commissioner Grant
then submitted his memoranda of these men to
Commissioner Parker for examination, telling
him that he deemed Thompson the best. Com-
missioner Parker said he thought that he was,
too. Meanwhile, Thompson had happened to
come before Andrews, who was keeping a
sharp lookout to see who would be qualified to
serve as acting captains. Commissioner An-
drews was much pleased with him, and inde-
pendently suggested his name. My attention
was called to Thompson by both Grant and
Andrews, and examining him, I thought him
a first-class man. The statement that Mr.
Parker is any way more responsible for his
appointment than any of the other Commis-
sioners is unqualifiedly false. He is less re-
sponsible than Commissioners Grant and An-
drews, and no more responsible than myself.
526
Parker's List.
YOUNG, REP., CHIEF.
— Strongly espoused by
Parker.
O'KEEFE, DEMOCRAT,
Chief. — Roosevelt strongly
espoused him.
GERMAN, REP.—
Parker.
GROO, REP. — Made
acting captain before this
Board came in. Strongly es-
poused by Parker for promo-
tion to captain, and in dis-
favor with Roosevelt, who
voted with Andrews to rate
him so low that he could not
be promoted.
Facts.
Commissioner Grant, soon after coming in
here, made a careful tour of the precincts and
prepared a list of the various sergeants whom
he thought the best of those whom he had
seen, and whom he deemed qualified for acting
captains. He handed this list to Parker. One of
the names on it was Young. I personally had
had my attention called to Young from an out-
side source, and was very favorably impressed
with him. So was Andrews. No one of the
three of us, until we saw Mr. Parker's list,
dreamed for a moment that Parker would
claim that he had originally suggested him or
backed him up more strongly than any one of
the other three. Messrs. Grant, Andrews and
myself gave him a merit mark of 60 independ-
ently of Parker, though Parker concurred.
At the time when Col. Grant prepared the
list mentioned above, which was within two
weeks of his appointment, he was particularly
struck with O'Keefe, and told me that he was
a man on whom we must keep a careful watch;
that he thought he was one of the best men
that we had. Andrews had been familiar with
O'Keefe's services long before the present
Board came in, and backed him as heartily as
Colonel Grant did. In consequence of the state-
ments of these two to me, I looked him up and
entirely concurred in their views, though I
was not responsible for discovering the man's
merits. All three of us were a unit in giving
him a high merit mark. We knew nothing
whatever of his politics, although we supposed
that he was a Democrat.
I was informed that German was a Demo-
crat, but remember very little about the cir-
cumstances of his being put up.
An absolute untruth. Grant put Groo on
his original list, made up within two weeks of
his taking office. At this time Andrews thought
well of Groo, but no one of the three of us
knew whether Parker thought well of him or
not. I was prejudiced against him because of a
charge which was afterward proved to be un-
founded, and when Andrews and Grant con-
vinced me that the charge was unfounded, I
became a hearty convert. In rating Groo for
the merit list we three gave him a mark of 52,
5*7
Parker's List.
KIRSCHNER, REP.—
Recommended before this
board came in.
HARLEY, DEM.—
Chief.
WALSH, DEM.—
Roosevelt. — Strongly es-
poused by Roosevelt for pro-
motion to captain, and op-
posed by Parker till longer
probation is had.
CHAPMAN, REP.—
Parker.
Facts.
after spending a great deal of time on it. After-
ward Mr. Parker came into the meeting and
went over the whole list, and as a result of his
request Groo was finally unanimously put at
50, so that Parker succeeded in having him
dropped two points. This drop just kept him
off the eligible list. As he is a veteran, he must
have been promoted had he been marked
higher, as Grant, Andrews and myself would
have marked him if we had not been trying to
make every concession to Parker.
Andrews had watched him before the
Board came in and thought very highly of
him «as» it happened that he had been in com-
mand of the Thirty-second precinct, near
where Commissioner Andrews lives, and An-
drews had seen him frequently and spoken of
him very highly to all the members of the
Board. Commissioner Grant put him on his
list at once. I then saw him, and coincided
heartily in the judgment of these two. I never
knew Parker to speak about him particularly
one way or the other.
Substantially correct.
Commissioner Grant first called my atten-
tion to Walsh. I saw him then, looked over
him and thought well of him. The Board unan-
imously agreed to give him a mark of 45 on
the merit list. He passed an exceptionally high
examination, being the only man whose merit
mark was as low as 45 who got on the eligible
list. Commissioner Andrews had thought as
highly of Walsh as Grant, his attention having
been called to him by well-known and respon-
sible people. About his politics we knew abso-
lutely nothing. I did not press him for captain
any more than Grant and Andrews, and all
that any one of the three of us proposed was
that he should be made acting captain, inas-
much as he had got on the eligible list, so that
we could see how he behaved when actually
in command.
Untrue. Before the present Board was ap-
pointed, during Andrews's first month of serv-
ice with the old one, his attention was called
to Chapman by ex-Police Commissioner Fitz
528
Parker's List.
Facts.
John Porter. Andrews then looked him up and
expressed to me a very high opinion of him.
Grant, as soon as he came into the Board, saw
him, and he was the first man whom he se-
lected as a possible captain. Parker did not act
in the matter until after Grant and Andrews
did. The Board unanimously made him acting
captain. The credit of his discovery, if it be
ascribed to any individual Commissioners, be-
longs to Andrews and Grant. Andrews, Grant
and myself gave him a merit mark of 64 for
the examination. After Parker came in and
went over the list Chapman was, as a compro*
mise, reduced to 60.
THOMAS, REP.—
Parker. — Roosevelt reluc-
tant to rate him high for
promotion to captain, and
only persuaded by Parker.
Has declared since he had
been promoted that if he had
known Vedder was behind
him he would not have voted
it.
An absolute falsehood. Commissioner Grant
first suggested Thomas. I looked him over, and
liked him. Parker then, to Grant, Andrews
and myself, urged as an objection that Platt and
Vedder wished the appointment. I stated then,
as I afterward stated about Steinkamp, that I
should no more be against Thomas for that
reason than I was against Steinkamp because
ex-Secretary Whitney favored him. After
much opposition, Parker finally changed and
seemed to acquiesce. In making up the merit
list, Grant, Andrews and I rated Thomas at
60, and Parker rated him at 50, this being his
rating as taken down at the time by both An-
drews and myself. Commissioner Grant fought
this strongly and insisted that Thomas should
go on as 60. Andrews and I joined with him,
and he was finally put at 60, in spite of Parker's
objections. When it came to appointing,
Parker wanted to hold him up, but we insisted
that he should be appointed right in his place,
and that no one below him should be appointed
until Thomas was.
KEAR, DEM., Chief.
— Roosevelt, Grant and An-
drews strongly for him for
promotion to captain. Parker
against him, and has held him,
because he visited Jimmy
O'Brien, and told him he
would have anything he
wished if he made him cap-
tain.
We three were only for him until Mr.
Parker made those statements. We then
dropped him. Since then, an investigation of
his precinct has convinced us that it is not well
disciplined, and that he should not be made a
captain.
529
Parker's List.
VREEDENBURGH,
REP., Parker.
CASEY, DEM., Chief
(temporarily). — Roosevelt
desirous to have him made
captain.
NORMAN WESTER-
VELT, REP., Parker.
SHEEHAN, DEM.,
Chief. — Strongly supported
by Roosevelt, Joe Murray
pushing him; Roosevelt very
anxious to have him made
acting-inspector.
Facts.
Absolutely untrue. Vreedenburgh was on
Commissioner Grant's list. During our first
week as Commissioners Byrnes selected Vree-
denburgh to clean up the Jefferson Market
Court Squad. He did this so well that all of us
put him on our lists, and he was unanimously
transferred. Parker was violently opposed to
Vreedenburgh when the time for promotions
came. We three, who were trying to concede
everything possible to Parker in every way,
put Vreedenburgh at 48. Parker insisted that
he should be given a rating of only 40, which
would absolutely prevent his being promoted
to captain. We finally gave him 43, and he just
failed. Being a veteran he would have had to
be promoted, and he would now be an acting
inspector, if we three had had our way.
When it came to promotions, Grant, An-
drews and I rated him at 50, and Parker also
rated him at 50. Excepting in this way, I never
desired to have him made captain any more
than any of the other Commissioners did. As a
matter of fact, I thought a little more of him
then than I do now, owing to one or two inci-
dents that have happened in his precinct, al-
though he has performed several feats of great
gallantry.
When we came to mark the men for the
merit list, Grant, Andrews and I gave Wester-
velt a merit mark of 55. Parker insisted that he
should only have 45. We compromised on 50.
If our merit mark had been given him, he
would have been on the eligible list, and would
have been promoted, unless Parker interfered.
Since this occurred the chief has taken the
power of details and has reduced Westervelt.
Parker has assured me that the chief will do
nothing of which he does not approve.
True. My attention was called to Sheehan
by Excise Commissioner Murray pointing out
to me that he obtained a greater number of
revocations of the licenses of disorderly houses
than any other captain or acting captain, with
the exception of Cortright. Commissioners
Grant and Andrews carefully looked into the
matter, and thought as well of him as I did.
We three gave him a merit mark of 50, which
was finally concurred in by Mr. Parker.
530
Parker's List. Facts.
BROWN, REP., Chief Entirely untrue. Commissioner Grant has
and Parker. from the outset been the stanchest supporter
of Brown, and was his discoverer. Parker has
objected very strenuously to Brown. It was
with extreme difficulty that Colonel Grant and
I, with the aid of Major Andrews, got him tried
as acting captain in spite of Parker's objection.
SHELDON, REP., Chief True. Grant and Andrews had always
spoken well of Sheldon, and urged that he be
given a trial. Parker has been against it during
all the months when the Board had control of
these matters.
FREERS, REP., Chief It is a surprise to us to learn that Freers is
(since made captain). a Republican. But, as a matter of fact, he was
on Commissioner Grant's list. It was Commis-
sioner Grant who first called him to my atten-
tion. I thought very well of him, as did Com-
missioner Andrews. We gave him a merit mark
of 60. Parker wished to reduce it to 55, but we
refused, and he finally concurred in our merit
mark.
Mr. Parker does not mention Steinkamp. Mr. Andrews has always been
Steinkamp's strongest supporter. Originally Colonel Grant and Major
Andrews and I gave Steinkamp a merit mark of 58. After Parker came in
the mark was finally, by unanimous agreement, raised to 60. Nevertheless,
after he got on the list Parker refused to appoint him, alleging as his rea-
sons that ex-Secretary Whitney had written a letter in his favor, and, in
the second place, that crime had increased in his precinct.
We found, after investigation, that the latter statement was wholly with-
out basis, and we considered the first objection trivial. To no one of the
three of us did he ever urge any other objection than these two.
He held Steinkamp up for several weeks, and then, without giving any
reason for changing his mind, he said he was ready to make him a captain.
By this time we considered that Parker's course had been such that it caused
doubt and uncertainty in the minds of the police force as to his motives in
holding up the appointments, and we deemed it best to cancel the eligible
lists.
Parker goes on to say that of the six officers acting as inspectors four
are Republicans and two Democrats, and that of the Republicans Cortright,
Brooks and Thompson were suggested by Parker and McCullagh by Grant.
This is absolutely untrue. Brooks was originally suggested by Andrews
upon information obtained from ex-Police Commissioner Fitz John Porter.
Cortright was unanimously agreed to by the whole Board, Parker having
not a whit more to do with it than any one of the other three. McCullagh
was independently suggested by Grant and myself, and strongly objected
to at the time by Parker, but Andrews concurred with Grant and myself,
and he was finally promoted.
Thompson's case I have already discussed. As a matter of fact, Grant,
Andrews and myself gave McCullagh and Brooks a good rating for the
merit list. They passed the examinations, we moved their appointment and
Parker refused to allow them to be appointed, and gave no reason for
doing so.
He has alleged that he thought they had been corrupt in the past, but
he has wholly failed to produce a particle of proof of his statements, and we
have been unable, after the most diligent investigation, to find any grounds
for them whatever; and in spite of the fact that the Chief refused to recom-
mend the promotion of McCullagh and Brooks (although he had previously
told me, and Grant also, that they were excellent men who should be pro-
moted, and that it was a shame not to promote them), he has continued
them as acting inspectors.
This must have been done with Parker's consent, and is in itself inex-
plicable on the ground that he thought they were of improper character.
Mr. Parker says "the Democrat Rodenbough was confirmed for three
years at a salary of $4,000, not by Parker at all, but by the other three,
Parker being absent from the meeting and never having spoken a word about
Rodenbough to any of the other three."
It is true that Mr. Parker was absent from the meeting at which he was
confirmed. During the past three months he has been absent from thirty-
five and present at only twenty-eight out of sixty-three meetings. Roden-
bough's name had come up again and again in the Board, and nobody had
suggested any other candidate for the place and nobody had questioned the
fact that he was to be continued in office. Nobody outside suggested to
any one of us that his place should be taken by any one.
He was appointed from the civil service list and his place could only
have been filled as the result of a competitive examination, for which there
were no candidates.
What Mr. Parker means in his concluding paragraph about "having the
clerical force turned over to any one," none of us understand in the least.
So far as any one of us three are aware, no proposition has ever been made
looking to die "turning over" of any portion of the clerical force to any-
body.
In conclusion, I would only say that I regret that we have been obliged
in the course of this letter to again and again brand Mr. Parker's statements
as false. Yours truly
532
632 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, April 1 1, 1896
Dear Cabot: — I thought your speech admirable in every way. 1 was dis-
appointed at the result, but you made a splendid fight.
Lauterbach queered us before the Senate Committee, showing the Sen-
ate a typewritten statement by Parker to the effect that he was responsible
for every Republican promoted by the Board, and that I had recommended
for promotion only Democrats. Andrews, Grant and I sent a letter to Lauter-
bach, taking his statements up one by one and denouncing them as false-
hoods. Grant is a broken reed to lean upon, for Parker is continually play-
ing on him and using him for his own purposes. I fear now that the bill
will not pass; but I am very glad to have got Parker in the open, where I
could nail him. He is a thoroughtly tricky and despicable fellow; but he is
able and unscrupulous and it is not easy to catch him.
The other day I was asked to dinner to meet "Mr. Astor." At first I
thought it was Jack Astor and accepted, for Jack Astor, with all his faults,
is an American, but when I found it was William Waldorf Astor, I wrote
again refusing, pleading inability to attend. I am not going to join in any
way in greeting Willie Astor.2
Best love to Nannie. All our children are reasonably well. Always yarns
633 'TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Quigg MsS.
New York, April 13, 1896
My dear Quigg: Do you think it worth while my writing to Lexow; fur-
thermore, do you think it worth while, if there is very serious opposition
from him, in our trying at least to get the promotions? If we can only get
through that it will be a great help. Stranahan1 has had for some time the
promotion bill; so you can write him.2
I have sent copies of our letter to the men you mentioned at Albany.
Faithfully yours
1 Lodge, I, 217.
* William Waldorf Astor, first cousin of John Jacob Astor, head of the Astor family
with a personal fortune estimated at about $100,000,000. He disliked America so much
that he moved to England in 1890, becoming a British subject in 1899. He remained
sensitive to American opinion, however. To learn what his native countrymen
thought of him, he caused a false report of his death to be published in 1892.
1 Nevada Northrop Stranahan, Republican state senator, chairman of the Committee
on Cities.
* Under existing law a unanimous vote of the police commissioners was required for
promotions to captain, inspector, deputy chief, and chief. After Parker prevented
various promotions, Roosevelt, Andrews, and Grant secured the introduction of a
bill permitting these promotions by a majority vote. This bill also deprived the chief
of his authority over assignments to duty.
533
634 • TO LEMUEL ELY QUIGG Qwgg
New York, April 15, 1896
My dear Quigg: To one or two men, within the last twenty-four hours,
Hackett1 has given as a reason for not favoring the bill that I bolted Elaine
with George William Curtis in 1884, a statement which he should know to
be entirely without justification; and Lauterbach again fell back on Parker's
statement, which he now should certainly know to be false. It almost begins
to look as though they are holding up the bill with the hope of making
me enter into a deal. They may just as well make up their minds at the be-
ginning that I will not enter into a deal. I am very anxious to have this
bill pass, but I should not consent to get it at the expense of losing my power
to do decent and efficient work in this Department.
I very much wish that our joint letter could be published. I enclose you
a copy. I received your telegram, and sent up the substitute bill with the
letter I wrote Senator Lexow.
Can't I see you personally soon? Faithfully yours
635-110 WILLIAM LAFAYETTE STRONG M.R.L.
New York, April 21, 1896
My dear Mayor Strong: — I enclose you a copy of Mr. Parker's original
statement to Mr. Lauterbach and of the letter we sent in reply to Mr. Lau-
terbach's questions, together with a copy of the ratings given by Grant,
Andrews and myself to the different candidates for Captains, then by Parker,
and the ratings as finally agreed to. It is not necessary perhaps to call at-
tention to the fact that Mr. Parker's statements have never been published,
and no copy ever sent to you. We had nothing to do with the publication
of our own letter; we simply sent it as an answer when requested so to
do, and as we were very indignant on discovering what Mr. Parker had
been doing we wrote at once. It did not occur to us to tell you anything
about it. We did not suppose you would care to be brought into a per-
sonal trouble of this kind, in which the public at that time had no interest.
I can assure you, Mr. Mayor, there was no intention of being disrespect-
ful. We will invariably consult you in advance about every step we take
hereafter.
I am writing this in the presence of Commissioner Andrews. It ex-
presses his views as much as mine; and doubtless it also expresses Com-
missioner Grant's. Faithfully yours
1 Deacon Hackett, one of Plate's lieutenants. While opposing the legislation suggested
by Roosevelt to change the system of promotion within the Police Department, he
was supporting a bill to legislate Roosevelt out of office by abolishing the existing
Police Commission.
1 Manuscripts collection of the Municipal Reference Library, New York City.
534
636-10 AVERY DE LAND ANDREWS AndreiUS
New York, April 22, 1896
My dear Andrews: — I had quite a time with the Mayor last night; on the
whole rather friendly; but for Heaven's sake be sure to try to see him and
have a long talk over matters Friday or Saturday. I shall see him Sunday.
We want to "stay with him" as the boys say. Faithfzdly yours
637-10 HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, April 29, 1896
Dear Cabot: — It was very good of you to send that letter to Laura,2 and
she was deeply touched.
Did you see in Scribner*s of this month the opening sentences in ref-
erence to yourself by the man who was writing about the Consulates?
such a purely incidental tribute speaks more than all the resolutions of the
Qvil Service Reform Association for the good work you have done.
I was deeply interested in both the volumes by Gustave LeBon.8 He is
really a thinker — not the kind of "thinker" whom the Mugwumps desig-
nate by that title — and his books are most suggestive. At the same time
I think he falls into fundamental errors quite as vicious in their way as
Brooks Adams', especially when he states positively and without qualifica-
tion a general law which he afterwards himself qualifies in a way that
shows that his first general statement was incorrect. I was rather amused at
seeing that while his last summing up contained a sweeping prophecy of
evil quite as gloomy as Brooks', it was based on exactly the opposite view.
One believes that tie mass, the proletariat, will swallow up everything and
grind capital and learning alike into powder beneath the wheels of social-
ism. The other believes that the few men on top, the capitalists, will swallow
up everything, and will reduce all below them to practical vassalage. But
what LeBon says of race is very fine and true.
I see that President Eliot attacked you and myself as "degenerated sons
of Harvard." It is a fine alliance, that between the anglo-maniac mug-
wumps, the socialist working men, and corrupt politicians like Gorman, to
prevent the increase of our Navy and coast defenses. The moneyed and semi-
cultivated classes, especially of the Northeast, are doing their best to bring
this country down to the Chinese level. If we ever come to nothing as a
1 Lodge, I, 217-219.
8 Mrs. James West Roosevelt, whose husband had just died.
'Gustave Le Bon, Les Premieres Civilisations (Paris, 1889). Le Bon's confusion of
race with nationality was typical of the strange theses that appeared in this work.
But Roosevelt and Lodge found his views close to their own on immigration and
imperialism. Roosevelt had described as "A-i" a speech of Lodge in which the Sena-
tor referred, as an argument for a literacy test, to Le Bon's concept of an Anglo-
American race of superior qualities destined to rule the world.
535
nation it will be because the teaching of Carl Schurz, President Eliot, the
Evening Post and the futile sentimentalists of the international arbitration
type, bears its legitimate fruit in producing a flabby, timid type of character,
which eats away the great fighting features of our race. Hand in hand with
the Chinese timidity and inefficiency of such a character would go the
Chinese corruption; for men of such a stamp are utterly unable to war
against the Tammany stripe of politicians. There is nothing that provokes
me more than the unintelligent, cowardly chatter for "peace at any price"
in which all of those gentlemen indulge.
Give my best love to Nannie. Always yours
638 • TO CARL SCHURZ SchUTZ MSS.
New York, April 30, 1896
My dear Mr. Schurz: — I have written to Mr. Watson in full.1 I told him
courteously but frankly that any proposition to make promotions in the
Police Department only by competitive written scholastic examinations
would result in worse evils to the Department than ever came from the
most corrupt system that obtained under Tammany. I do not see how the
Association can hesitate for one moment to approve the methods of pro-
motions we followed up to the time your Committee saw us, and which
we would be following now if it had not been for the intrigues of Com-
missioner Parker, which have brought us to a halt for the time being. While
we cannot now get the good results from the report of the Committee which
might have followed had the report been made public in time to influence
legislation, still, it may help us in our battle for decent government, and
I hope it will be adopted at the next meeting of the Association. Very
truly yours
[Handwritten] P.S. Some time I wish another chance to discuss war
& peace with you, oh Major General, Cabinet Minister, Senator & Histo-
rian! I only hope all of you international arbitration people do'n't finally
bring us literally to the Chinese level.
639 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, May 6, 1896
Dear Cabot: — I read the two copies of the Record with great interest. That
your speech was admirable goes without saying. I was also very much
pleased with the lesson that Hawley drew from the burning of Washington.
1 Charles White Watson, a retired merchant, in 1891 had investigated, for the Civil
Service Reform Association, the administration of civil service Taws in New York
City. In 1895, largely because of his investigation, Strong appointed him civil service
commissioner.
1 Lodge, I, 220-221.
I must say I felt disheartened at reading what Wolcott said. How a man
of his ancestry and training can be so indifferent to the national honor, I
find it hard to conceive. Gorman is as cheap a scoundrel as exists. Hill is
a scoundrel too, although of much higher grade. I thought he might act
decently on the Navy. I was immensely amused at Peffer's idea that torpedo
boats were to be used chiefly for preying on the enemy's commerce. Bou-
telle2 certainly follows an oddly tortuous path mentally, but I am glad of
the stand he has taken now, at all events. Well, we shall get something out
of it anyhow, and we are gradually building a navy which will, at least,
prevent any but a first class power from insulting us with impunity.
I have continued a somewhat stormy career here. Yesterday I lost my
temper with Fitch, which I should not have done; 8 but he is so contempt-
ible, and does so much mischief that I found it difficult to pardon him. As
for Parker, I have made no progress; the Mayor ought to remove him,
but I don't think he is prepared for such vigorous action. At any rate I
have more than held my own during these last few weeks, but it is very
hard work indeed to go on with such a scoundrel. With proper power I
could make this Department of the first rank from top to bottom. We
have done a good deal anyhow, but the way we are hampered is almost in-
conceivable, and I shall not be sorry when I leave it, though I would not
be willing to go now under fire.
Best love to Nannie. Austin Wadsworth dined with us last night. Always
yours
640 • TO WILLIAM LAFAYETTE STRONG M.R.L.
New York, undated2
Dear Sir: In obedience to your suggestion, I send you herewith statements
from the Chief, Acting Inspectors and certain of die Captains in reference
to the methods of obtaining evidence against disorderly houses, to enable
you to judge the accuracy of the statements of Comptroller Fitch that these
a Charles Addison Boutelle, naval officer, editor, congressman. After a distinguished
career in the Navy during the Civil War, he left the service to edit a newspaper in
his native Maine and, subsequently, to enter politics. Beginning in 1883 he served
nine consecutive terms as a rigorous, conservative Republican in the House of Repre-
sentatives. On the Committee of Naval Affairs he was a constant champion of a
strong Navy, though he opposed the Spanish-American War.
* Roosevelt and Comptroller Fitch had long been at odds over the disbursement of
municipal money. Fitch refused Roosevelt's request for certain unexpended balances
in the contingency fund to repay policemen who had used their own money to ob-
tain evidence against violators of the Excise Law and other criminals. Roosevelt
ascribed Fitch's decision to his Tammany connections. The controversy came to a
head on May 5 at City Hall when both men, in "a lively row," spoke of resorting
to pistols.
1 Police Department Manuscript Collection, Municipal Reference Library, New York
City.
'The approximate date of this letter is May 10.
537
methods are improper and unnecessary, and of Ex-Commissioner Erhardt,
that they were unknown in his time.
I requested from the Chief a specific report as to whether the methods
pursued in getting evidence against disorderly houses from December 31,
1875 to May 20, 1879 (the time of Col. Erhardt's service as Commissioner)
and since then up to May 6th, 1895, when the present Board took office,
were the same as the methods which have been used since. In response he
submitted statements from most of the officers whose long service in the
Department enabled them to testify. The answers in all cases were sub-
stantially the same, namely that the methods used in obtaining evidence
against disorderly houses were precisely the same now that they were during
Col. Erhardt's term of service, and indeed during all the time of which the
present officers of the Department have any knowledge. I quote from some
of the reports, condensing them.
Acting Inspector, Walter Thompson says: —
"The methods used in obtaining evidence against disorderly houses from
December 31, 1875 to May 20, 1879 . . . were precisely the same as those
used during the past year."
Capt. Young of the 6th Prect. says:
"Since I came into the Department, thirty years ago, I have never known
evidence against disorderly houses to be procured in any manner than is
being done at the present time; and in fact there is no other way in which
it can be done, as the Magistrates require the most positive evidence to be
procured before they will grant a warrant for any place of the kind; and
officers of the Department assigned to this, or any other duty, are the only
ones that can be depended upon. I have referred the question to the fol-
lowing named Sergeants: —
Richard Mangan 26 years service,
George P. Osborne 26 years service,
Patrick Leonard 24 years service.
And they all concur in the above statement."
Inspector Moses W. Cortright reports to the Chief, "In former years,
and during the period of time specified, evidence against disorderly houses
was procured in very much the same manner as it has been for the past
year, and since you have been at the head of this Department as Acting
Chief and Chief of Police. In fact I know of no other way of getting evi-
dence against such places that would be acceptable to the Police Magis-
trates, and upon which conviction could be had in the Courts."
Acting Inspector O'Keefe reports:
"From Dec. 31, 1875 to May 20, 1879 (while Mr. Erhardt was Com-
missioner) it was a very easy matter to get evidence against disorderly
houses, for they were numerous during that period (the other Captains say
the same thing verbally, phrasing it "that they were run wide open" dur-
ing that period referred to) ... Since you became Acting Chief and Chief
538
of the Department, it is very difficult to get evidence against them for the
reason that they do not openly do business."
Captain Pickett writes: "From Dec. 31, 1875 to May 20, 1879, evidence
against disorderly houses was obtained precisely in the same manner as it
is obtained now. . . . There is no other practicable manner in which to
obtain evidence against, and to effectively suppress, such places.
He also reports that the requirement of the present City Magistrates that
the statement of police officers in these cases must be corroborated, and that
more than one visit to these places must be made before a warrant is issued,
greatly increases the difficulty of obtaining evidence.
Acting Inspector Nicholas Brooks writes: — "Since my appointment as
Captain on June 30th, 1887, and up to the present time, so far as I know,
the evidence necessary in such cases, has been procured in the same manner,
with this exception, that during the past few years the Magistrates in the
Police Courts have refused to issue warrants upon the evidence of any
officer, unless it was corroborated by another officer, thereby necessitating
a second visit, thus incurring double the expense of former years."
Acting Inspector John McCullagh8 writes: "Since July zoth, 1883, the
date of my appointment as Captain, I have resorted to the same methods as
at present employed in procuring the necessary evidence against disorderly
houses, as no warrant can be procured from any Police Justice without
having produced such evidence. . . . Furthermore, the present Magistrates
will not issue a warrant on the unsupported evidence of a single Patrol-
man, but require a second patrolman to procure the same evidence on an-
other occasion so that one will corroborate the other."
During the three years particularly specified neither Acting Inspectors
McCullagh and Brooks, nor Chief Conlin, were engaged in the work in ref-
erence to disorderly houses.
Chief Conlin reports: — "From the time I became Inspector of Police,
August 9th, 1887, up to the time I was designated as Acting Chief and
Chief of Police, the same methods of procuring evidence against disorderly
houses were used as from that time, May 27, 1895, up to the present. . . .
I know of no other practicable or effective means by which evidence can be
obtained to suppress disorderly houses; and to prohibit the Department from
getting evidence against such places in this manner is, in fact, to license
them to run in violation of law."
It appears from the testimony that during the period when Col. Erhardt
was Commissioner there was little serious effort made to enforce the law
against disorderly houses; and evidence was so easily obtained that it was
necessary to spend hardly any money. Since 1881, however, about which
time public indignation grew so that the Police had to make some effort to
enforce the law, there have been every year various sums of money ex-
pended for the purpose of procuring evidence, precisely as has been the
8 John McCuUagh, New York City chief of police, 1897-1898.
539
case during our term of service, and with the full approval of the Finance
Department. Comptroller Fitch has approved transfers for this purpose again
and again; his predecessor, Comptroller Meyers, also approved them after
making careful inquiry into the necessities of the case. Comptroller Fitch's
present attitude toward these expenses it quite incompatible with the theory
that he has honestly done his duty in the past.
There is much in the work of any Police Department which is disagree-
able and repulsive, exactly as there is much in the work of a surgeon who
has to deal with certain hideous diseases that is disagreeable and repulsive.
In each case, however, it is the disease, and not the use of the lancet to
extirpate it, that is the proper cause of repulsion. For a morning paper to
publish with indecent minuteness the details of some of the surgical opera-
tions which have been performed in the hospitals over night, would be in-
famous, because these operations, though necessary, are not dwelt upon by
wholesome minds, except as a matter of professional interest. Comptroller
Fitch's conduct is precisely parallel to such a proceeding on the part of
a newspaper. The present Police Board has spread upon its record, more
fully than any previous Board, exactly what it has done, because it wel-
comes investigation by any proper authority. It fully understands that occa-
sionally an individual who is acting in bad faith, and who desires merely to
do what is in his power for the perpetuation or revival of dishonest govern-
ment, will strive to turn to improper account this openness of the Board
in making plain the uses of what is practically a secret service fund.
The question is simply whether it is or is not desired to enforce the laws
against disorderly houses precisely as we enforce them against gambling
houses and the like. It is the same question which was raised by Comp-
troller Fitch and his allies when the present Board, for the first time in the
City's history proceeded honestly to enforce the excise laws. The Police
merely get such evidence as they are required to get by the City Magis-
trates before warrants are issued. The failure to procure such evidence ab-
solutely forbids the hope of a conviction. The Comptroller is indignant at
what he calls "provocation to commit crime." This plea is mere nonsense,
and could with equal propriety be used against any detective work. In get-
ting evidence against disorderly houses the officers do precisely what they
do in getting evidence against gambling houses. Thus on May 2 last, Acting
Captain Brennan reports that one of his patrolmen having purchased var-
ious slips of a certain form from a gambling house went before Magistrate
Kudlich and Asst. District Attorney Battle with the slips and stated the
facts to them, whereupon they ordered him to buy again, which he did. In
other words he was ordered by the Magistrate and District Attorney to do
exactly what the Comptroller says should not be done, but what as a matter
of fact the Magistrate and District Attorney knows must be done, if there
is any honest purpose to enf ore the law.
Over two hundred convictions of disorderly housekeepers have been
540
obtained by the police during the past year, and every one of them on evi-
dence of the character to which the Comptroller objects; and in no case did
the presiding Judge for a moment object to such evidence or hint any dis-
approval of the methods of obtaining it. In short the present methods are
not only entirely proper, but they are the only methods by which it is
possible to enforce obedience to the law, and the only methods which hon-
est officials can employ if they honestly desire to see the law executed. A
failure on the part of the Police to resort to them would inevitably result
in plunging the City into a state of open depravity and vice. Within a very
short period the most hardened advocate of licentiousness would admit the
necessity of a return to these same methods of obtaining evidence to sup-
press immorality; but in the interval damage would have been done that it
would take many years to undo.
When the present Board took office it found that the present methods
of obtaining evidence were used against all disorderly houses, gambling
houses and the like which the police were in earnest in their endeavor to
suppress. After full investigation we found that it was impossible to execute
the law against places of this kind save by getting evidence in this manner,
and that the District Attorney's office and the Magistrates and the Judges
of the higher Courts without an exception required such evidence. The
Chief and his subordinates, who were responsible for the execution of the
laws stated, what we found to be true, that they could not execute them
at all unless they obtained evidence against offenders of this class of offend-
ers, the most insidiously hurtful of all classes, precisely as they obtained
it against other criminals. To stop them would have implied on our part
a naked refusal to do our duty, and would have been fraught with incal-
culable harm to the City. What we did was perfectly simple. We told the
officers to continue to use the methods which were above found effective
in restraining lawbreakers; but with this difference, that whereas formerly
lawbreakers who had money or political influence had been protected,
under us all were to be treated alike. In consequence gamblers, disorderly
housekeepers and lawbreaking liquor sellers have all been made to feel that
they must obey the kw, and that they do not now as they formerly did
constitute a privileged class, the members of which, if they paid for pro-
tection could ply their illegal trades at will. We issued but two additional
directions. One was that no officer should perform any immoral act. The
other was that when a disorderly house was raided the men and women
found therein should be treated alike, no discrimination being made because
of sex.
The Comptroller has rendered all the service in his power to the de-
praved and disorderly classes; but the Board of Police will most certainly
continue to execute the law in the future as they have executed it in the
past without making any exception in favor of those criminals the vicious-
ness of whose criminality is rendered even more dangerous by the com-
parative secrecy of the conditions under which it is carried out. Yours
truly
6*41 -TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CoivleS MsS.Q
New York, May 17, 1896
Darling Bye, Friday Earl Spencer turned up with a letter from Bob; we
asked him to dinner, but he could'n't come; however he called, and we
had an hour's talk; I liked him, as he has had much experience and seems
interesting.
I have endless petty rows with Fitch & Parker; very irritating, because
they are so petty; but very necessary; the battle for decent government
must be won by just such interminable, grimy drudgery; painful months
of marching and skirmishing, mostly indecisive; the "glorious days," of
striking victory, are few and far between, and never take place at all unless
there is plenty of this disagreable preliminary work.
Tell Will I have passed rather a naval week. I went over the Indiana
from top to bottom with Capt. Evans;1 she is certainly a splendid ship.
Then Cabot and Nannie turned up here to meet Brooks Adams and his
wife. Harry White gave us all a lunch together with Willie Chanler, the
Winty Chanlers, and Griscom — who greatly admires you. Today we took
lunch on Harry Davis' ship, the Montgomery, which is lying off Staten
Island. It was very enjoyable, but we had a comedy of errors going down.
Nannie and Mrs Adams got left behind at the ferry; they then themselves
got seperated, each in turn took the wrong ferry, and went first to Brook-
lyn; and they finally turned up at the Montgomery, each of them alone,
one half an hour late, and the other an hour.
I have taken the silver out of Sagamore, and given the jewels in charge
to Mrs. Lee; but the big red leather box was not in the safe; can you tell
me where it is? Always yours
642 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CoiuleS MSS.Q
Oyster Bay, June 14, 1896
Darling Bye, Edie and I had an absurd time on Friday. She had come in
town with the children, and expected to go out with me by the 4.30. Find-
ing that the trial at the City Hall, would endure for an unknown period,
I telephoned to Edith not to expect me, as I should probably not get out
to O. B. that evening. However the trial came to a temporary close in time
for me to catch the 8.10 train. I reached Sagamore at 10, found the house
dark, and when I at last got in found that Edith had stayed in town, think-
ing to comfort me for my night in the city!
1 Robley Dunglison Evans, "Fighting Bob," later commander-in-chief of the Atlantic
Fleet on its tour around the world, 1907-1908.
542
The "trial" is that of Parker before the Mayor, for neglect of duty —
very much his least, but also his most easily proven, sin. Rather to my
surprise General Tracey turned up as his counsel and my assailant, though
he knows Parker's shortcomings well, and has heard from me all of our
troubles.1 It strikes me as a not very honorable course; but it is just the
kind of thing that Choate does and that most lawyers seem to regard as
in accord with their peculiar code of professional ethics.
In the larger field of politics I feel very nervous. McKinley, whose firm-
ness I utterly distrust, will undoubtedly be nominated, and this in itself I
much regret; but what I now fear is some effort to straddle the finance
issue. Such a move would be bad politically, not to speak of it's being dis-
astrous to the nation. The Democrats will in all likelihood make an open
fight for the free coinage of silver; and an equally open fight should be
made against it, both from the standpoint of party expediency, and from
the standpoint of public morality.
The five children are just dear; they are so good and they do have such
lovely times.
Love to Will. Yours always
643 -TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES Cobles
Oyster Bay, June 20, 1896
Darling Bye, While I greatly regret the defeat of Reed, who was in every
way McKinley's superior, I am pretty well satisfied with the outcome at
St. Louis. We have an excellent platform on almost every point; finance,
civil service reform, foreign policy. Only the pension plank is bad. Mc-
Kinley himself is an upright and honorable man, of very considerable ability
& good record as a soldier & in congress; he is not a strong man, however;
and unless he is well backed I should feel rather uneasy about him in a seri-
ous crisis, whether it took the form of a soft-money craze, a gigantic labor
riot, or danger of foreign conflict.
Grace Potter is spending Sunday with us; she is very much as she always
was. Corinne's last relapse seems to have made our darling reckless sister
think seriously of trying to take care of herself; she now meditates spend-
ing two really quiet months at some little seaport in Maine.
The children are passing their usual heavenly summer. Archie is the
sweetest thing imaginable, and such fun to play with. Alice is as good as
gold; Edith is giving her and Ted as well a genuine taste for good litera-
ture. Kermit is improving in health all the time; and Ethel is the best of
rosy, chubby little girls. Yesterday we all had our first swim; and after
1 Benjamin Franklin Tracy had handled some business for the Roosevelt family. In
his defense of Parker, he pointed out that Roosevelt had frequently absented himself
from New York while on speaking tours for which he received money. Elihu Root
pleaded the case against Parker, relying on Roosevelt as his main witness.
543
Edith came back from her ride I put Alice on Diamond for a mile's trot
& canter.
Mrs. Bliss — who was never especially attractive to me — is spending
a few days at Uncle Jimmie's; her fixity of purpose is evident. Yours always
644 • TO WILLIAM SHEFFIELD COWLES CoivleS M.SS?
Oyster Bay, June 20, 1896
Dear Will, I was much interested in the last two volumes you sent; the
life of Admiral James, and Brassey's year book. I have left them both, with
the others, at 689 Madison Av.
Brassey evidently thinks our battle ships inferior to the British, because
of their 6 inch quick firers; and our own men seem inclined to the same
view, to judge by the proposed abandonment of the 8 inch guns in our
new battle ships. I am not at all sure they are right; though I dislike the
superimposed turrets. With the 8 inch we have four extra armor piercers
on each of our battle ships; and the 6 inch guns are not armor piercers and
in fact I do'n't see that they are much better than the 5 inch quick firers.
Capt. Evans takes this view very strongly. By the way, in looking at the
Indiana I could not help wondering, as I saw the lack of protection for the
small quickfirers, whether they could really be handled with much effec-
tiveness in action with a powerful enemy. Yours always
645 • TO BELLAMY STOKER Printed1
New York, June 24, 1896
Dear Bellamy, You are very good to write to me. I think that we have got
an excellent platform at St. Louis, and I believe that McKinley will make
a good candidate and a good President. I shall, of course, do everything in
my power for him. I strongly suspect you had a hand in the gold plank.
There is one thing I do most earnestly hope, and that is that you will be
in the Cabinet. If we could have you as Secretary of the Treasury we should
indeed be well off; for as a Westerner you would not alienate the West,
while your record would give the East the entire confidence. I earnestly
hope that McKinley can see his way to this.
Yes, it is just as far from Dan to Beersheeba as from Beersheeba to
Dan; but remember the wretched Danites have a dreadful following of
children and nurses, and don't like to leave them, and can't very well take
them even to the dearest and most hospitable of friends. So do try both
of you to get down to see us some time. There is very much I would like
to tell you about my work; it has not been pleasant work, and we have
been terribly hampered, but I think we can accomplish something, although
not a tenth part of what we could accomplish if we were not almost tied
1 Storer, Roosevelt the Child, p. 15.
544
hand and foot by foolish legislation. Best love to Mrs. Storer. Faithfully
yours
646 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CO'WleS
Oyster Bay, June 28, 1896
Darling Bye, Your letters are most interesting; and your last gave me a
vivid idea of exactly what you were doing. You are indeed having the
time of your life; and I know you are appreciating it and enjoying it to
the full. It is just what you are most suited for; and the pleasure comes in
that most pleasurable way, as a duty. You are doing peculiarly well just
what you ought to do.
I have been so absorbed by my own special work and it's ramifications
that I have time to keep very little in touch with anything outside of my
own duties; I see but little of the life of the great world; I am but little
in touch even with our national politics. The work of the Police Board
has absorbed all the time and energy I could give to such work at all. There
is nothing of the purple in it; it is as grimy as all work for municipal reform
over here must be for some decades to come; and it is inconceivably ar-
duous, disheartening and irritating, beyond almost all other work of the
kind, because of the special circumstances of the case. I have to contend
with the hostility of Tammany, and the almost equal hostility of the Repub-
lican machine; I have to contend with the folly of the reformers and the
indifference of decent citizens; above all I have to contend with the sing-
ularly foolish law under which we administer the Department. If I were,
like Waring,1 a single-headed Commissioner, with absolute power (not to
speak of his having an infinitely less difficult problem to solve), I could
in a couple of years have accomplished almost all I could desire; were I even
the member of a three headed commission, like the Boston Police Depart-
ment, with absolute power, I could have accomplished very much; but as
it is I am one of four commissioners, any one of whom possesses a veto
power in promotions, who can only dismiss after a trial which is as tech-
nical as that in a court of law, and whose immediate subordinate, practi-
cally irremovable, possesses the great bulk of the power, with none of the
responsibility. Add to this a hostile legislature, a bitterly antagonistic press,
an unscrupulous scoundrel as Comptroller, quite shameless if he can only
hamper us, and you have a difficult problem to face. However, I have
faced it as best I could, and I have accomplished something.
The work itself is hard, worrying, and often very disagreeable. The
police deal with vile crime and hideous vice; and it is not work that can
1 George Edwin Waring, sanitary engineer, New York City commissioner of street
cleaning, 1895-1898. He died of yellow fever in 1898 while on a government mission
to inspect sanitation in Havana. A candidate on the Independent ticket in 1898, War-
ing expressed extreme indignation at Roosevelt's "betrayal" of that ticket.
545
be done on a rose-water basis. The actual fighting, with any of my varied
foes, I do not much mind; I take it as part of the day's work; but there is
that is painful. But fight after fight is won, and it's very memory vanishes;
all our troubles with the excise is now over.
The children are very well and very cunning. Ted and Kermit go clad
in the national garb of die American hired man, and revel in dirt. Ethel is
a chubby darling; Archie is too sweet for anything; and Alice just the best
elder sister that ever was.
Grace and Bertha have been staying here and were just as nice as
possible. Whenever I get a day off Edith and I row and ride; and we take
the children in swimming. Ted is riding pony Grant, with much pluck,
and an atrocious seat. Alice has begun to ride on Diamond.
Cabot came on to meet Bay and spent a night with me at 689. He is
on the top of the wave, having won the greatest triumph he has ever scored
by heading the gold forces at St. Louis; and as Commencement Day at
Harvard followed immediately he was able to emphasize his triumph in the
presence of the men who hate him most. He has had an astonishing career;
and while of course the opportunity was good, he took advantage of it
only because of his remarkable energy, capacity and persistence.
In this state politics are very mixed. Bar a cataclysm the Republicans
will win hands down; but the factional fight within the party is bitter
beyond belief; and the folly of the anti-Platt men matches die wickedness
of the machine. If the Democrats, as seems likely, come out for free silver
the fight for the Presidency will be close in the western states that deter-
mine the result. Yours
647 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CoivleS MSS.°
Oyster Bay, July 12, 1896
Darling Bye, The trial — which was really very nearly as much a trial of
me as of Parker — is over, I am glad to say, though the Mayor has not yet
given his decision; and though I fear the courts, when they review this
decision, may reverse it even if it is all right. I have quite forgiven Tracey,
for in his effort to break me down, by a six hour cross examination, he
gave me just the chance I wished; and I had the satisfaction of telling under
oath, with Parker not six feet distant, just what I thought of him, and of
his mendacity, treachery and duplicity.
I could'n't get out here at all until Friday afternoon; but I am now
passing three days of delightful rest, and enjoyment of the children. They
are such darlings! Archie tries to make his skin horse say it's prayers.
Nellie Tyler is here; today we all lunched on Austin Wadsworth's yacht.
I have been trying to get started on that naval matter for Cowles; but have
not yet succeeded.
Love to Will. Yours always
546
P.S. I have been able to do one nice thing; I got Nellie Nick's son La-
trobe appointed at Annapolis, through Congressman Low.
648 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, July 14, 1896
Dear Cabot: — I am exceedingly disappointed not to be able to get to Tuck-
anuck,2 but it is simply impossible for me to leave just now unless I shirk
my work. I had hoped that by the first of July, at the latest, everything
would be all clear; but it now looks as if it would be the middle of August
or later before we dispose of the promotions one way or the other. Parker
is still in, and, whatever the Mayor does, an appeal will be taken on his
behalf to the Courts, and pending the settlement of this appeal I suppose
he will continue to exercise his functions. This means that die promotions
will have to be fought out step by step, and as the examinations have been
delayed so that they are only now taking place I simply cannot get away.
I got to Austin Wadsworth's because I only had to be absent one working
day, taking the night train on and another night train back — for Sunday,
and Saturday, which was the fourth, don't count — but for some little time
to come I evidently cannot expect to get off for more than a Saturday and
Sunday, or Sunday and Monday. It is a great deal more likely that I can
visit Nahant than Tuckanuck, and even Nahant will be doubtful.
I had great fun up at Geneseo but as I was frightfully out of condition,
as well as stiff and flabby, I came back sore all over. Dacre Bush distinguished
himself, and I took a great fancy to him. As I was up there I went in for
all the sports, and still bear traces of conflict with divers of the Carey
brothers in the cavalry fight. I got rather a bad strain in a fall over a fence
in the course of one of the canonical Sunday afternoon horseback strolls.
Austin was in at Oyster Bay the other day on a yacht.
Edith and the children are very well. Edith enjoyed Geneseo as much
as I did. I shall have to be in town almost every night this week; but Grant
LaFarge and Bob Ferguson will probably be with her at Oyster Bay.
What a Witches Sabbath they did hold at Chicago! Bryan admirably
suits the platform. I can't help hoping that before November he will have
talked himself out, and his utter shallowness be evident, but just at this
moment I believe him to be very formidable, even in the Middle West and
of course in the far West and South. As you know, and have long said, the
hardest fight the democracy could give us this year was on the free silver
issue. They have done wisely, (if one disregards considerations of morality)
in making the issue so thorough going there is not a crook or criminal in
the entire country who ought not to support them; and we have never
had, save only during the Civil War, a party whose success at the national
1 Lodge, I, 223-225.
"Tuckanuck was the summer home of Dr. William Storgis Bigelow.
547
election would have argued so ill for national welfare. I am very glad that
McKinley has come out so straight on the finance issue; we have got to meet
them as boldly as they meet us. The bolt among the democrats here is
fairly astounding; I have never seen anything like it, and I believe that most
of the Germans everywhere will be on our side. The A. P. A. is, I think,
eager to support Bryan; on this account as well as others, Bland8 would
have been an easier candidate to beat. Still, Bryan has no real substance to
him; I think the people will size him up by November, and that we shall
beat him hands down; but we must not be deluded into the belief that there
is not to be a struggle in the States along the Mississippi Valley.
Let me know your movements as soon as you can, so that if I can get a
chance to see you I may avail myself of it.
Give my best love to Nannie. Yours always
649 • TO s. j. PRYOR Roosevelt Mss.
New York, July 16, 1896
Sir: x I take pleasure in calling your attention to the reports made me in
reference to the alleged outrage on an Englishman and his wife, Mr. and
Mrs. Ardenne Foster, recounted in the London Daily Mail of June 29th.
You will see from these reports that the statement in the Mail is absolutely
without foundation, and that the whole story from beginning to end, so far
as the alleged brutality of the New York Police is concerned, is false. The
Police Board invariably investigate with the utmost care any instance of
alleged brutality by officers of the force, especially if against citizens. In
this particular instance the so-called Mr. and Mrs. Foster (who are not Eng-
lish people at all, but natives of this country) are so well known to the
Police and to their neighbors that they never entered a complaint as to their
treatment, and the first information that the Board had of the case was from
the clipping in the London Mail The article in the Mail ran in part as fol-
lows: —
"As a sample illustration of the police outrages to which the people of New
York tamely submit, I may mention that a few days ago the wife of Mr. Ardenne
Foster, an Englishman, was arrested for disorderly conduct. Her offense consisted
in waiting outside a shop which her husband had entered to make a purchase.
When Mr. Foster came out, he found his wife struggling in the clutches of Police-
man Mulcahey, a brutal ruffian who hails from Cork. He was pushing the helpless
woman before him and uttering a volley of oaths. When Mr. Foster indignantly
remonstrated, Mulcahey summoned assistance and had him arrested also.
The unfortunate couple were then marched off to the Police Station, where
they passed the night in a filthy cell, surrounded by thugs and felons. The next
day they were brought before an ignorant German who acts as Police Magistrate;
'Richard Parks Bland, Democratic congressman from Missouri, 1873-1895, 1897-1899;
a Silver Democrat and aspirant for the presidential nomination in 1896.
1 S. J. Pryor, managing editor of the London Daily Mail.
548
this individual upheld the policeman, who declared that Mrs. Foster had been
a marked character for many weeks past. It was only when proof was furnished
that at the times mentioned both Mr. and Mrs. Foster were in England, having
only just landed from an American liner, that they were discharged. The occu-
pant of the bench, however, admonished the victims of the outrage to be very
careful how they acted while they remained in New York apparently on the
ground that English subjects must be regarded as suspicious characters until
proven otherwise.
Although all the New York papers joined in denouncing the police and magis-
trate, it is very unlikely that the injured people will have any redress, Mulcahey
and his fellow ruffians having strong "political pulls" which would prevent their
receiving punishment, while the Police Department in all cases of complaint, stand
firmly together from the Chief downwards, so that complaining would simply
be a waste of time. That is why New Yorkers never complain of police tyranny."
The editorial accompanying runs in part as follows
"A glance at a news column will reveal the latest instance to hand of the
brutal tactics of these street autocrats. The account of this ruffianly outrage on
an inoffensive English lady makes one long to inflict summary chastisement on
Mulcahey, from which no scruples should exclude his accomplice, the German
magistrate."
The investigation was made carefully by the Chief, the Inspector and the
Captain. The Captain reports as follows; under date of June
"On June iith. at 11.20 P. M., Patrolman William Mulcahey was accosted
by a woman who gave her name as Jennie Poster, on 37th Street, who asked him
to go to her rooms for purposes of prostitution. He placed her under arrest, and
a man who claimed to be her husband tried to take the prisoner away, so that
the officer summoned assistance and brought both prisoners to the Station House.
The following day the Magistrate discharged them with a reprimand. The man
claimed he had been in the City for the past three weeks, but from the records
of the Bureau of Information at the Central Office, we find that he had called
there on March 5th. 1895, on Police business. He gave his name as Ardenne
Foster, but on inquiry his name was found to be William Brown, and that he
lived and was born in- the City of Washington, D. C., and that three years ago
he married a light-colored mulatto, left her in Washington and came to New
York; that he lived with prostitutes and they formed his chief means of support,
the woman arrested being one of them."
The report continues: —
"He can be found at times in the saloon kept by Lane Brothers, northwest
corner of 25th Street and Seventh Avenue. I would also state that the woman
arrested is not Mrs. Jennie Foster, but Florence Smith, known to be a common
prostitute for years, and formerly residing in the Sixteenth Precinct."
(Signed.)
Captain George S. Chapman.
The Chief states that as a result of careful inquiry he has discovered that
Mr. Foster has been often in the vicinity where he was arrested for some ten
years, and was born in Washington, D. C.; that he is a very light-colored
mulatto, who can imitate very cleverly the English accent; that his real name
549
is William Brown, known among Tiis associates as "Nigger" Brown, and that
he is what is known as a "lover," that is, a man supported by prostitutes.
The Chief further states that the so-called Mrs. Foster, who is otherwise
known as Eliza Smith and Florence Smith, has been known as a prostitute
for several years, and has recently been keeping this man Brown, alias Foster.
I feel it is but fair that the London Mail should make public this state-
ment. I may add that Officer Mulcahey has been over twenty years on the
Force, and that there are no charges against him. During the period the
present Board has been in office he has certainly behaved himself with entire
propriety. Yours very truly
650 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MSS.°
Oyster Bay, July 26, 1 896
Darling Bye, Last week went by much as usual. I spent three nights in town,
and the others out here; a Professor Smith, a friend of Bob's turned up, and
dined with me — also Jacob Riis & Stephen Crane1 — and we dropped in
afterwards to discuss a girl's library in the Jewish quarter with that enter-
taining but untrustworthy Mrs. Van Rennselaer; yesterday I stayed here,
rode with Edith, played with the children, and tried the new military rifle at
a target. Hallett Phillips, who is a dear, and my colleague Andrews, are
passing Sunday with us. $
Not since the Civil War has there been a Presidential election fraught
with so much consequence to the country. The silver craze surpasses belief.
The populists, populist-democrats, and silver- or populist-Republicans who
are behind Bryan are impelled by a wave of genuine fanaticism; not only do
they wish to repudiate their debts, but they really believe that somehow they
are executing righteous justice on the moneyed oppressor; they feel the
eternal and inevitable injustice of life, they do not realize, and will not realize,
how that injustice is aggravated by their own extraordinary folly, and they
wish, if they cannot lift themselves, at least to strike down those who are
more fortunate or more prosperous. At present they are on the crest, and
were the election held now they would carry the country; but I hope that
before November the sober common sense of the great central western
states, the pivotal states, will assert itself. McKinley's position is very hard;
the main fight must be for sound finance; but he must stand by protection
also, under penalty if he does, of making his new democratic allies lukewarm,
and if he does not, of making a much larger number of his old followers
hostile. Matters are very doubtful; Bryan's election would be a great calam-
ity, though we should in the end recover from it.
Love to Will. Your last letter was most interesting. Yours always
1 Stephen Crane, newspaperman and author who in 1896, following the publication
of The Red Badge of Courage (New York, 1895), and the reissue of Maggie, a Girl
of the Streets (New York, 1896), was the center of critical attention and discussion.
550
651 'TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, July 29, 1896
Dear Cabot: — First, a word as to literature. I do hope Bay will publish
"The Wave." Every time I read it over I am more and more impressed by it.
I won't repeat to you what I said about sonnets — if for no other reason than
that you justifiably distrust my judgment upon them — but it seems to me
that, while so many thousands of men write pretty good sonnets, or even
more than pretty good sonnets, and while Shakespeare, Milton and Words-
worth still remain rather lonely in this line, there is a better chance in other
directions to do work that will really stand in the first rank. I think "The
Wave" stands quite alone, and with all due respect to you, it does combine
a touch both of Whitman, and of Marlowe in his grand style. The combina-
tion seems queer, but the result is good. I do wish it could be published.
Now for politics, I saw George Lyman just as I was about to call on
Hanna.2 With Hanna I had a very pleasant talk, and I dwelt especially upon
the fact that in Massachusetts if he wished to get money help, which he so
urgently needs, he must tie to you and Lyman; and he assured me that he
quite understood Osborne's position,8 and indeed the attitude of the other
original McKinley men in Massachusetts, and that he intended to work
through the regular organization, and recognize Lyman and yourself as its
exponents, and the people to be considered; and that you were those whom
he regarded as the people to be considered, both now and after election. Of
course I can only tell you what he said he would do, and not what he trill do.
As for matters here, he evidently feels rather sore with Platt, and not
inclined to call on Platt first; while Platt foolishly stands on a point of punc-
tilio in refusing to make the first advance. I am going to send an urgent re-
quest to him today through Quigg to see Hanna by all means. Fortunately
Hanna is entirely against any split in the Party here. Always yours
652-10 HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, July 30, 1 896
Dear Cabot: — This is an explanatory appendix to my note of yesterday.
Like yourself I am a man of one idea, and yesterday as an under-current of
thought running through my battles with the ungodly in the shape of Fitch,
Parker and the like, there was present a sense of irritation that my favorite
"The Wave" should not be published. All that I meant to do was to make
an ardent plea for "The Wave"; but after I sent the letter it suddenly oc-
1 Lodge, I, 225-226.
"Marcus Alonzo Hanna had just been made chairman of the Republican National
Committee.
8 William McKinley Osborne, secretary of the Republican National Committee, later
United States Consul General at London, a cousin of William McKinley.
1 Lodge, I, 226-227.
551
curred to me that it might read like an attack on Bay's sonnets. To accentu-
ate my feelings, on my way to a meeting of the Greater New York Commis-
sion to testify about the Police Department, I read in Scribner's the only one
of Bay's other poems which I think ranks with "The Wave"; that wonder-
fully beautiful sonnet "After." I know that my own judgment about sonnets
is not of the best, and that one's sense of perspective is not good when too
close, but really I feel that this equals any of Wordsworth's. I recollect that
when Sturgis Bigelow read this and "The Wave" to me, I had very strongly
the feeling that I was listening to a couple of masterpieces, by a man who
ranked as a poet; and there are not many poets in this century. This is all by
the way of explanation, though I don't suppose you could really think I did
not appreciate Bay's sonnets; but it is not given to any man in one lifetime
to write many such sonnets as "After" and I don't want him to desert the
other forms of poetry entirely.
I had a second talk with Hanna, the conversation coming around to
Massachusetts. I again dwelt on the fact that the only people who could help
him were the men represented by you and Lyman, and that if there was the
slightest suspicion that there was an effort to build up a machine against you
by the use of patronage, it would be impossible to get any real solid help
from the only Bostonians who could give Hanna the help he needs, that is
money. I think you ought to make every effort to see a good deal of him,
and to have him meet you at a dinner with but two or three other men, at
the most, present. He is the type of man that despises big dinners, and any
appearance of fuss; and he realizes that there is a very big fight on in the
Middle West, and that he needs all the financial aid possible from the East.
He is a good natured, well meaning, rough man, shrewd and hard-headed,
but neither very f arsighted nor very broad-minded, and as he has a resolute,
imperious mind, he will have to be handled with some care; and yet he must
be shown that the financial issue must in many quarters be made the foremost
issue, and must everywhere be made one of the two foremost. I don't mean
to advise dropping die tariff; on the contrary, we must force the tariff issue
well to the front; but we must not subordinate to it the issue of sound money.
Give my best love to Nannie. Always yours
653 • TO THOMAS BRACKETT REED Printed*
New York, July 3 i, 1 896
Dear Tom: Your speech was magnificent.2 You struck the keynote exactly.
We must not in any way ignore the tariff; but we must put our main effort
on finance.
Samuel W. McCall, The Life of ThoTnas Brackett Reed (Boston, 1914), p. 228.
'The central theme of Reed's speech was that the Republican party was the best
party for the preservation of "sound government, commercial success, and business
prosperity." -Ibid^ pp. 227-228.
55*
Oh, Lord! what would I not give if only you were our standard-bearer;
and, as that is impossible, if only the managers would follow on the lines that
you have pointed out. Faithfully yours
654 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE RoOSCVelt M.SS.
New York, August 5, 1896
Dear Cecil: — You would have been well repaid for your trouble in writing
if you had seen the eagerness with which Mrs. Roosevelt and I read and
reread your letter, and repeated parts of it to the children. As you know we
are not fond of many people, and we are very fond of you; and if you don't
come back to America for ten years, yet, whenever you do, you will find us
just as anxious to see you as we always were in the old days at Washington.
Funnily enough just about four days prior to the arrival of your letter we
were talking you over, apropos of Willie Phillips, who was spending a week
with us in the house, and were saying that he, Bob Ferguson and perhaps
Grant LaFarge, were the only people who approached you in our minds as
being guests whom we really liked to have stay for no matter how long a
time in the house. Mrs. Roosevelt always refers to your last visit as one
during which she got steadily to be more and more glad that you were in
the house, so that she felt as if one of the family had gone when you left.
Ted has been learning to shoot with a Flobert rifle. We have a Scotch
terrier, an offspring of the Lodge's Peter, with two beautifully forked &
pointed ears, and an exceedingly stiff tail; the other day she stood end-on at
some little distance looking at us, so that the tail appeared like a bar between
the forked ears, and Ted remarked with pleased interest "doesn't Jessie look
just exactly like a rifle sight." He rides on pony Grant, when that aldermanic
little beast seems less foundered than usual. Alice is as tall as Mrs. Roosevelt
now, and just as good as she can be. Archibald, the Cracker, is a darling, al-
though I suppose that to all people but his parents, both his temper and his
intelligence would seem to leave much to be desired. Kermit hi his brace
off, and the little fellow is very happy. He fights with Ethel a good deal, but
they are rather more peaceful than formerly. I think I wrote you that both
the little boys, in the interest of economy, were clad, over their regular
clothes, in the beautiful and simple national garb of the American hired man,
that is, blue overhauls with a waist under the armpits.
Ted is as much at home in the water as a duck. Mrs. Roosevelt and I
ride a good deal on the two black ponies and we also row now and then,
sometimes for a whole day on the water.
Did I tell you that Speck spent three days at our house last winter? One
of his duties was to get up a report as to America's strength and weakness
in the event of his Government finding it necessary to take a smash at us;
he was going about it, and discussed it with me, with his usual delightfully
cold-blooded impartiality.
553
The bulk of my work here is over; the worry will not be over until I
leave. The fight has been against terrific odds, and it has been made up of
innumerable petty conflicts in which I have lost about as often as I have
won; and I could not begin to express the wearing anxiety of the incessant
battles now against the Tammany Comptroller, now against the press, now
against the machine Republican legislature, now against the dishonesty and
scoundrelism of one of my colleagues, with, the whole time, the ingrained
and cynical corruption of the Force we inherited from Tammany, as a
ground on which all these influences can act. Nevertheless, while I have
come very far short of doing what I would like to do, and what I am sure
I could have done, had the conditions rendered it possible for any man to do
it, yet, I think I can say that we have done a good deal, and that the standard
of efficiency and honesty has been immeasurably raised so far as the adminis-
tration of this Force is concerned.
If Bryan wins, we have before us some years of social misery, not
markedly different from that of any South American Republic. The move-
ment behind him is most formidable, and it may well be that he will win.
Still, I cannot help believing that the sound common sense of our people
will assert itself prior to the election, and that he will lose. One thing that
would shock our good friends who do not really study history is the fact
that Bryan closely resembles Thomas Jefferson; whose accession to the
Presidency was a terrible blow to this nation. Cabot has been one of the men
who was instrumental in forcing the gold plank into the Republican plat-
form.
I quite agree with what you say as to the effect that the military training
of a whole nation must in the end have on that nation's character; and I also
entirely agree with what you say as to Brooks Adams' book, & of these
threadbare comparisons of modern nations with the Roman Empire. As long
as the birth rate exceeds the death rate, and as long as the people of a nation
will fight, and show some capacity of self-restraint and self-guidance in
political affairs, it is idle to compare that nation with the dying empire which
fell because there sprang from its loins no children to defend it against the
barbarians.
On this side the real danger is either that we shall stop increasing, as is
true now of parts of New England, exactly as it is true of France, or else
that we shall become so isolated from the struggles of the rest of the world,
and so immersed in our own mere material prosperity, or lack of prosperity,
so that we shall become genuinely effete, and shall lose that moral spring,
which no matter how bent will straighten out a really great people in ad-
versity, if it exists in them.
But there is one inexplicable thing about military training and its effect
as instanced by the immigrants we see here. I am entirely unable to detect
any improvement in the Germans as fighting policemen, because of the mili-
tary training that their fathers for the last generation have been receiving in
554
the old world. I cannot on any philosophical ground explain why the average
Irishman certainly makes a better policeman in an emergency than the aver-
age German. We appoint hundreds of both races, and while there are scores
of exceptions on both sides, yet as a general rule the fact remains as I have
said. It is so in the Police of Chicago and Minneapolis; likewise, it was so
with our soldiers of the Civil War. After one, or at most two generations the
difference dies out. The children and grandchildren of the German and
Irish immigrants, whom we appoint on our Force, are scarcely distinguishable
from one another, and the best of them are not distinguishable from the best
of the appointees of old American stock. But it certainly does seem to take
a generation to make the German, in point of fighting capacity, come up to
the Irish, or native American.
The other side of the Police Force amuses me much, and I shall have
lots to tell you about it when, if ever, we meet.
Bob Ferguson spent a day with us before going abroad. I think he is
coining back to New York next winter.
You will remember Captain Robert Evans? He was in here with the
Indiana, which is a splendid ship. Kipling, by the way, went all over it, and
he and Evans got on capitally together. Harry Davis was here with the
Montgomery. He spent a day with us in the country. He has the Mont-
gomery at a very high pitch of efficiency, especially in the drill of her guns;
and when questioned about her, I was much amused to see the struggle in
his mind between his ingrained tendency to state that everything was and
must be wrong everywhere, and as bad as could possibly be; and his deep-
seated pride and belief that nothing of her size really could be better than his
own vessel.
Good bye, old man! Mrs. Roosevelt sends you her love, so do Alice and
Ted. Do write us now and then for your letters are always very welcome.
Faithfully yours
P.S. Indeed Russia is a problem very appalling. All other nations of
European blood, if they develop at all, seem inclined to develop on much the
same lines; but Russia seems bound to develop in her own way, and on lines
that run directly counter to what we are accustomed to consider as progress.
If she ever does take possession of Northern China and drill the Northern
Chinese to serve as her Army, she will indeed be a formidable power. It has
always seemed to me that the Germans showed shortsightedness in not
making some alliance that will enable them to crush Russia. Even if in the dim
future Russia should take India and become the preponderant power of Asia,
England would merely be injured in one great dependency; but when Russia
grows so as to crush Germany, the crushing will be once for all. The growth
of the great Russian state in Siberia is portentious; but it is stranger still
nowadays to see the rulers of the nation deliberately keeping it under a
despotism, deliberately setting their faces against any increase of the share
of the people in government.
555
Well, just at this moment, my country does not offer a very inspiriting
defense of democracy. This free silver, semianarchistic, political revolu-
tionary movement has the native American farmer as its backbone; it is not
the foreign-born people of the great cities; who work for wages and have no
property, but the great mass of farmers who own their freeholds, and are of
old American stock, that form a menace to the country in the present elec-
tion; and the Immigrants who back them are the Scandinavians, Scotch &
English, not the Irish; while the Germans are among the chief props of sound
money.
655 • TO BELLAMY STOKER Printed*
Oyster Bay, August i o, 1896
Dear Bellamy, A letter came from Cabot just as I received yours; and I
"studied on 'em!" Looking at it soberly, I suppose that, with law as it is,
I shall have done all I can in the Police Department by next Spring; and as
I want work, I suppose it would be well for me to accept the Assistant Sec-
retaryship of the Navy, in the very improbable event of my being offered it.
But I do not wish you to concern yourself about the matter; first, because
it is too early; and second, because the really important thing is to get you
in the Cabinet or at Paris. This is what we must strive to accomplish. Always
yours
P.S. Need I say how we enjoyed your visit?
656 ' TO MARIA LONGWORTH STORER Printed1
Oyster Bay, August i o, 1896
My dear Mrs. Storer 9 The Cardinal's letter was excellent — I enclose it; and
the song — which was as good in a different way.
The day after you left I saw Mark Hanna, and after I thought we had
grown intimate enough, the chance arriving, I spoke of Bellamy as the man
for the Cabinet, either for War or Navy, or else to go to France, saying that
my personal feelings did not influence me, but that for various reasons, rang-
ing from his vote on the Gold Bond Bill to his whole record in Congress
and his standing with Catholics, I felt no appointment would do more to
strengthen McKinley. He listened attentively, spoke very warmly of Bel-
lamy, but said that at present he was considering nothing but how to elect
McKinley, not even McKinley's after policy. I thought it wise not to press
the matter further at the moment.
I wish I was to see you with Mr. R. Yours always
1 Storer, Roosevelt the Child, p. 16.
1 Storer, Roosevelt the Child, p. 17.
556
657 * T° ANNA ROOSEVELT cowLEs Co'wles Adss.°
Oyster Bay, August 15, 1896
Darling Bye, This will be my last letter for four weeks, as the next three
Sundays I hope to spend out on the plains among my cattle and after occa-
sional antelope; but Edith will write you every Sunday. She is going to
Lake Champlain with the children.
Well, we've had two excitements in New York the past week; the
heated term, & Bryan's big meeting. The heated term was the worst and most
fatal we have ever known. The death-rate trebled until it approached the
ratio of a cholera epidemic; the horses died by hundreds, so that it was im-
possible to remove their carcasses, and they added a genuine flavor of pesti-
lence; and we had to distribute hundreds of tons of ice from the station-
houses to the people of the poorer precincts. I had to be in town several
nights; and I saw some strange and pathetic scenes when the ice was distrib-
uted. Now a cool wave has come.
Bryan fell with a bang. He was so utter a failure that he dared not con-
tinue his eastern trip, and cancelled his Maine and Vermont engagements. In
his speech he tried to do the "dignified statesman" business, and he merely
lost what little renown he had as a wild-eyed popular orator; his only
chance was with the people who care for neither dignity nor statesmanship,
and this he threw away. He not only hurt himself very much here in the
east, but also in the west. I believe the tide has begun to flow against him.
The educational work done about finance by the distribution of pamphlets
has been enormous, and it is telling. It is hard to reach the slow, obstinate
farmer; but all who can be reached are being reached.
Love to Will. Yours always
658 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, August 19, 1896
Dear Cabot: I am off on Friday for three weeks, and I am very glad to go
for I think the endless strain and worry had told on me a little.
The meeting to hear Bourke Cockran was a phenomenon. It is extraor-
dinary that a mere private citizen should be able to gather such an enormous
crowd; a crowd quite as large inside the Madison Square Garden and almost
as large outside, as that which came to hear Bryan, the candidate for the
Presidency. Cockran made a first class speech. I cannot but believe that the
tide is beginning to flow against the free silverites; but of course it all de-
pends upon the big States of the Middle West. Down at the bottom the cry
for free silver is nothing whatever but a variant of the cry for fiat money or
a debased and inflated currency. Brooks Adams' theories are beautiful, but
in practice they mean a simple dishonesty, and a dishonest nation does not
1 Lodge, I, 230-232.
557
stand much higher than a dishonest man. The hatred of the East among
many Westerners, and the crude ignorance of even elementary finance
among such a multitude of well meaning, but puzzled-headed, voters, give
cause for serious alarm throughout this campaign. I shall be able to speak
more intelligently when I come back from the West. Cushman K. Davis has
made a splendid speech in St. Paul.
This time I supervised the police arrangements myself, Conlin having run
off to the country. Everything went off without a hitch; there was very
little legitimate ground for complaint even at the first meeting; it was chiefly
reporters' grievances, as a number of their passes were not honored. This
time I saw that they were all honored, and the police kept complete control
of the crowd, having them thoroughly in hand; and yet they behaved with
the utmost good nature. I determined that I would be able to testify as an
eye witness to all that happened.
I have written to Burlingame, but it seems to me simply impossible that
he can fail to take "The Wave." Give my best love to Nannie and John,
Bay and Constance, and to Sturgis Bigelow if he is anywhere around. Always
yours
I wish I could have joined you at the Whites.
P. S. — I have again had to make a break with some of the anti-Platt
people; the Platt men locally are quite impossible, but our anti-Platt men
are such fools! They want to nominate Saxton for Governor. Well! I should
like to nominate him, but it is simply out of the question; but the most im-
portant thing is to beat Aldridge,2 and he can only be beaten (if Morton
won't run) provided the anti-Platt men help those Platt men who are in
favor of Fish or Wadsworth. I don't think anyone of these is at all an ideal
candidate, but we don't get ideal candidates for Governor in New York.
Either will make a good Governor, much above the average, and for either
we can poll the full party strength without leaving a break in the party
ranks, and without disgracing ourselves by putting up an unfit man. The
anti-Platt people behave with such folly that they are apt to oppose quite as
strenuously a decent fellow whom Platt supports as the worst scoundrel.
659 -TO GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM "Putnam MSS.
New York, September 1 1, 1 896
Dear Haven: I am very much obliged for your letter. I will look up that
notice in the Athen<ewn. I wish I could persuade the general public to take
a broader view of me as a historian! I am afraid your prot6g6 don't do you
much credit. Faithfully yours
•George Washington Aldridge had been appointed New York State Commissioner
of Public Works by Governor Morton at the insistence of Senator Platt.
558
660 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, September 14, 1896
Dear Cabot: — I thought your speech, which Edith showed me, admirable;
but then you have gotten into the habit of making admirable speeches now.
I haven't seen your Commencement speeches. I suppose Maine will give a
rousing majority today. I earnestly hope so. I spoke in New York last Friday
and was rapturously received. The Organization had frowned on my being
asked, but after my reception I was rather amused to find that they at once
wrote me to know if I would not speak for them during the campaign, and
I of course answered that I would. We have made a pretty good nomination
for Governor. Black2 is a Platt man, but a man of ability and integrity.
I looked into the situation very carefully in the West. I spent two days
at the Republican Headquarters at Chicago. We have a very severe fight
there, but we are going to win. Illinois is now looking all right; Indiana will
be venal as usual; Ohio we shall carry of course, and the Germans make
Wisconsin as safe as New York; affairs are very much demoralized in
Michigan, but we shall win. In Iowa the defection has been very great and
the result is still in doubt, but the drift is our way. The same is true of
Minnesota, and there is an even chance in the Dakotas, and as I am informed
by the Pacific slope men, in Oregon and possibly Washington and California;
even in Montana McKinley has proved so strong that Tom Carter8 has
hastily gotten off the fence on our side. Nebraska, I believe, we shall carry.
I don't know enough about Kansas to speak with any certainty.
What confounded fools the political G. A. R. men are. Just at present
they are trying to have me imprisoned, under the peculiar provision of the
New York law rendering public officials liable if they do not give veterans
their rights. During the last fifteen years Tammany while in complete con-
trol of the Board, or dividing it with the machine Republicans, made twenty-
six promotions to the rank of Captain, six of the men promoted being veter-
ans. During the past sixteen months we have made twenty promotions, eleven
of the men promoted being veterans; in other words, we have promoted
relatively more than twice as many; yet the very men who never made a
kick about Tammany are now threatening deadly measures aimed especially
at me, because I will not promote certain entirely incompetent Grand Army
men to positions in which they would have the responsibility for preserving
order in this entire vast Gty, and because I have reduced an utterly incom-
petent and unworthy man, Patrick Buckley. They have taken the action
partly of their own accord, but mainly at the instigation of Parker. They
1 Lodge, 1,232-235.
"Frank Swett Black, elected Governor of New York in 1896 by the largest plurality
ever given in the state.
"Thomas Henry Carter, Republican congressman from Montana, 1889-1891; Commis-
sioner of the General Land Office, 1891-1892; chairman of the Republican National
Committee 1892-1896; United States Senator, 1895-1901, 1905-1911.
559
don't care in the least for the fact that of the eleven veterans promoted (eight
of whom incidentally are Republicans) Parker voted against five. They care
still less that Parker does not really want their men promoted, but desires to
interfere with the promotions of the only men who are just at this moment
fit to be made Inspectors. All they wish to do is to try to put forward two
or three incompetent professional G. A. R. policemen, and having failed to
do this by threats, they now are proceeding to law, and the Plait people are
egging them on. However, though a little irritating, I have been much
amused at this. They went before the Grand Jury to get me indicted; the
Grand Jury positively refused. What they will do next, I don't know.
I have had a rather amusing experience with the English reviews of my
fourth volume of the "Winning of the West," which offer a commentary
on the supposed indifference of the British to American criticism. In the
first three volumes I had no occasion to say anything bad about the British.
In the fourth volume I had to tell the truth about their conduct in the
Northwestern frontier. Every English paper, from the Atherueum to the
Times, has confined its review to a perfect yell of rage over this part of my
volume. The Athenaeum put it that "he (I) panders to vulgar passion and
prejudice; he either cannot or dare not make the attempt to write with can-
dor and historical truth when a question concerning Great Britain and
America is discussed."
Scribner's having accepted "The Wave" I now most earnestly hope it
will be produced very soon.
I have just had a long and really very interesting letter, from, of all per-
sons in the world, Tom Watson,4 in reference to an article of mine in The
Review of Reviews. I shall show it to you when we meet.
Give my best love to Nannie and to Bay and John, and Constance if you
see her. Gussie has been distinguishing himself on the polo field, I see.
Always yours
P. S. — I have just received your letter which was very welcome. That
was an exceedingly stupid slip of mine about Jefferson, due to my having
to dictate the article late at night just as I was leaving for the West. I have
written you above my forecast of the West. The wage-earners are drifting
our way and the revolt among the farmers is shrinking rather than spread-
ing. In my own county of Billings and the extreme West of North Dakota
the sentiment was for gold among the small ranchmen and they will give
McKinley two to one majority there. But the situation in the West generally
has been one of great danger. The drift our way was very perceptible, how-
ever, and the change was distinctly visible even during the three weeks I was
out there. Of all the States Iowa made relatively the worst showing. I went
over a careful canvass of the State with their National Committeeman; even
the names of the voters were down, and it showed a net loss of thirty thou-
* Thomas Edward Watson, the extraordinary Georgian Populist who was the party's
candidate for Vice-President in 1896.
560
sand republicans, for the ten thousand gold democrats could not be de-
pended upon to vote against Bryan. However, matters are improving, even
the improvement in Minnesota was very marked. When I was going to my
ranch the people there were all nervous, and the men with whom I talked
were very doubtful; coming back it was evident that the tide had begun to
set our way. At present the Dakotas are a little against us, but with proper
care I believe there is at least an even chance of carrying them. There is a
great need of money to spend in an entirely legitimate way for educational
purposes. Maine like Vermont has done even better than we had hoped.
66 I • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CO'wleS M SS.Q
Oyster Bay, September 20, 1 896
Darling Bye, Maine, like Vermont, gave an overwhelming majority for the
Republicans. In November every state in the northeast will give an unprece-
dented majority for McKinley. The south as a whole will go overwhelm-
ingly for Bryan, but in the border states, like Maryland, West Virginia and
Kentucky, the Democratic gold ticket will disorganize the Democrats so that
there is at least an even chance of our carrying them. The Rocky Mountain
states will be strong for Bryan; but on the Pacific coast and in the Dakotas
we shall make a strong fight, with the chances nearly even. The middle west
is the real battle ground. In July Bryan certainly had the majority in the
states of the upper Mississippi valley; but the tide is now setting our way,
and I believe we shall carry them, while there is a chance that we shall carry
them overwhelmingly. Nevertheless the defection in certain states, notably
Iowa, is very great. The campaign is one of remarkable enthusiasm. Bryan
is usually greeted by enormous crowds as he journeys to and fro. McKinley
stays at home, and the people come to see him from all over the Union in
such masses as seriously to disarrange the railway traffic.
I have been working in my office most of this week. Yesterday we took
a farewell dinner to Emlen & Christine at Uncle Jim's and Aunt Lizzie's;
this afternoon Emlen's children come up for a last play with ours — and
with me — in the old barn. Alice rides Diamond nicely; Ted is thoroughly
at home on pony grant. I wish you could see Archie.
Love to Will. Your aff. brother
662 • TO HENRY WHITE Henry White Mss.
New York, October 5, 1896
Dear White: I shall forward your checks at once. I had already told Hanna
and McKinley of what you had done, and the great interest you are taking,
I think I succeeded in fixing it in McKinley's mind.
Lodge and I had a very pleasant and successful stumping trip. I fear I
shall be in West Virginia when you are in New York; but I shall start to
561
get the seats for you at once, and shall communicate with you. I shall put
my special messenger at your disposal to see that you get in there without
any trouble.
Just after writing the above I am informed that I am to go to Illinois
and Michigan instead of West Virginia, so I shall probably be here on the
i zth. I will try to meet you.
In great haste, Faithfully yours
663 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE Roosevelt
New York, October 8, 1896
Dear Cecil: — Just a line to tell you in the first place how greatly we both
enjoyed your delightful letter; and in the second place I think the tide has
turned here as regards Bryan.
Your descriptions were simply enchanting. How I should love to see the
country and to ramble about over the hills; but I could not climb those hills
well now without undergoing a good deal of training. Excepting twelve
days on my ranch this fall, during which I merely rode a good deal,
(shooting five antelope) I have not taken any exercise for two years.
The change of feeling about free silver has been very great. I have never
seen a campaign carried along on a higher plane. The appeal has been made
straight out on the grounds of morality and patriotism; and the people gen-
erally are responding well. I think we shall carry the East by unprecedented
majorities, and the middle west by large majorities; the Rocky Mountain
States and the South will be against us; and along the border line between,
Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and possibly
the Pacific coast States will be close, and we probably shall carry some of
them.
The Bryanites have more and more dropped free silver as the issue of the
campaign; the fight has nothing to do with bimetallism; it is simply a gather-
ing of the forces of social unrest. All the men who pray for anarchy, or who
believe in socialism, and all the much larger number who have not formulated
their thoughts sufficiently to believe in either, but who want to strike down
the well-to-do, and who have been inflamed against the rich until they feel
that they are willing to sacrifice their own welfare, if only they can make
others less happy, are banded against us. Organized labor in the lowest
Unions is hot for Bryan, although the workingman would suffer more than
anyone else by free silver; but the higher class, including the immense mass
of the railroad employees, are for us.
Ted has begun his career at the Cove school, and accepts his new ex-
perience with happy philosophy.
I shall be on the stump in Illinois and Michigan next week. Cabot and I
have just concluded a week's stumping tour.
562
This and my work at the office here, which is especially onerous before
an election, take up all my time and more.
In great haste, I am Ever faithfully yours
664 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, October 21, 1896
Dear Cabot: — Just a line to tell you about my Western trip. First, and least
important, as to myself. I made a success of it, and got in good form and
spoke to immense audiences, who always listened attentively, and sometimes,
as in Chicago and Detroit, went mad with enthusiasm. The only serious
interruption I had, funnily enough, was by Moreton Frewen in Chicago.2
After a little sparring I used him up so that he left the hall.
Now as to the result. We shall sweep the West very much as we shall
the East, although, of course, not to the same extent. Altgeld will run way
ahead of Bryan in Illinois, but the land-slide will be so great that we shall
probably down him too. In Minnesota there has been a check as there has
been in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, so that our people are not quite as
confident of overwhelming majorities as they were a month ago; nevertheless
the majorities will be large. I went through Minnesota the same time Bryan
did, and in three different towns spoke on the same day. At the moment he
frightened our leaders; but I really believe his visit did us good rather than
harm. The conduct of Pingree8 in Michigan is however most unfortunate.
He has hardly supported McKinley at all, and his men are trying to trade so
as to carry him (Pingree) through at all costs; while on the other hand I did
not meet a decent Republican in the State who intended to vote for him. The
scoundrel actually asked the Bryan people to let him introduce Bryan at his
great meeting in Detroit. They refused. He has great influences with the
labor people, and a large number of the leaders of the latter will be against
us. Moreover, Michigan is the one place where I did actually come across
serious defections among the Republican fanners on the silver question. On
the other hand, the sound money Democrats have been a tower of strength
to us there. In one small town I visited, out of 450 votes one hundred and
three were actually enrolled in the McKinley sound money league; there
were 50 others who had not enrolled but who will nevertheless vote our
way. Indiana is a bad State, as always, and our men are not wholly free from
anxiety. Hanna told me that he thought it quite as doubtful as Kentucky.
Personally, I think this an exaggeration. Iowa is coming our way with a
sweep, and we have more than an even chance of carrying Nebraska, and
two out of three of the Pacific coast States.
1 Lodge, 1,237-239.
1 Moreton Frewen, an English bimetallism was a friend of Roosevelt.
'Hazen Stuart Pingree, tempestuous Republican reformer, mayor of Detroit, 1889-
1896; elected Governor of Michigan in 1896.
563
Will you tell Curtis Guild 4 that wherever I went I heard his speeches
spoken of with general admiration. Also tell me if that was Gussie's article in
the last Bachelor of Arts.
Give my best love to Nannie and tell her how much I enjoyed her note.
Always yours
665 'TO FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER Turner AfSS.
New York, November 4, 1896
My dear Mr. Turner: — I was very much pleased and interested in your
reviews of my fourth volume, both in the Nation and the American Histori-
cal Review. You are a master of the subject, and therefore you can write the
only kind of review I care to read. I fear I must agree with what you say
about regarding history as a more jealous mistress, and giving more time and
greater thoroughness of investigation to the work. I have in return no ex-
cuse to offer; but an explanation. I have been worked very hard indeed for
the last eight years, and it was a physical impossibility to neglect my duties
as Civil Service Commissioner or as Police Commissioner, so I either had to
stop historical work entirely, or do just as I have done. As I say this is no
excuse at all, it is merely an explanation.
Will you let me make one or two pleas however? I think my judgment
was sober. I cannot imagine it possible for Jefferson to have been ignorant
of the real desires of Michaux, and his absolutely tortuous dealings with
Genet at the same time, show the lengths to which he was willing to go in
deceiving Washington and supporting France. I feel that while one should be
sober in judgment, one should avoid above all things being colorless in deal-
ing with matters of right and wrong. In my estimation Jefferson's influence
upon the United States as a whole was very distinctly evil; and, still more,
he represented without influencing the very tendencies which have made for
evil in our character. He did some very good things, and he of course did
not begin to travel as far in the wrong direction as Messrs. Bryan, Altgeld,
Peffer and the like; but there are some very unpleasant points of similarity
between them.
When a thoroughly good study of a special subject has been made, it
seems to me a more general writer can often with advantage use it rather
than himself again thrash out the straw, so I did not try to get any manu-
script sources for the travels of Lewis, Clark and Pike. In the Louisiana pur-
chase it seems to me that I must have failed to make clear my effort to ac-
centuate the most important point in the whole affair, and the very point
which Henry Adams failed to see, namely that the diplomatic discussion to
which he devotes so much space, though extremely interesting, and indeed
* Curtis Guild, Jr., editor of the Boston Commercial Bulletin, Republican, volunteer
public speaker during the 1896 campaign, later Governor of Massachusetts, 1906-
1909; ambassador to Russia, 1911-1913.
564
very important as determining the method of the transfer, did not at all
determine the fact that the transfer had to be made. It was the growth of the
Western settlements that determined this fact. There is no need of additional
work on the diplomacy of the this Louisiana cession. But you are quite right
as to the need of exploiting the Spanish, English and French archives about
the treaties of Jay and Pinckney. I did not dwell on the Kentucky resolu-
tions, because they seemed to me not directly connected with my subject,
as much as they derived their importance from the Virginia resolutions, and
have their proper place in a treatise of the history of the national parties at
that time. They were not frontier matters.
There! I have not jvritten another critic of my work; but with you it is
interesting to enter into a discussion.
Pray let me know if you come to New York. Sincerely yours
666 • TO ALBERT SHAW Shaw Ms$.
New York, November 4, 1896
My dear Dr. Shaw: * This is merely a business note. Do you pay your con-
tributors? I don't ask because I want to be paid unless you pay others, but
only for fear there may be some oversight in the matter.
Sometime I want to be impertinent enough to talk over your last article
on the Election. It seems to me that the middle west took really, so far as
its reputable people are concerned, the same intense view of this election
that the east did; and that this view was as emphatically right as the view
of the supporters of Lincoln in the Civil War. Moreover, I think that the
silver question was a very small part of this campaign. It was fundamentally
an attack on civilization; an appeal to the torch. Faithfully yours
66 7 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS
Oyster Bay, November 8, 1896
Darling Bye, You may easily imagine our relief over the election. It is not
pleasant to feel that such a candidate as Bryan should have received such a
vote. Still, we have beaten him by the largest majority ever recorded against
a presidential candidate, at any rate for the last half century; a majority
much larger than is indicated even by the decisive vote in the electoral col-
lege. In the east the majorities were almost incredible; in the middle west
they were not so overwhelming, and yet were larger^ than had ever before
been given. We also carried the Pacific coast, and the northernmost tier of
southern states.
1 Albert Shaw, a lifelong student of government, economics, and political institutions,
founder (1891) and editor of the American Review of Reviews, later editor of The
Literary Digest, one of Roosevelt's closest friends and most constant correspond-
ents in the publishing world.
565
It was the greatest crisis in our national fate, save only the civil war; and
I am more than glad I was able to do my part in the contest. I enclose a
very pleasant article from the Sun; please send it back.
As for my own police work, we have the force at a very high point of
efficiency, and we gave the city the most honest and orderly election it has
ever had. I have done nearly all I can do with the police under the present
law; and now I should rather welcome being legislated out of office. So I
can await events with an equal heart.
Love to Will. I am having a delightful three days at Sagamore with
Edith and the children. Yours always
668 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS
Oyster Bay, November 13, 1896
Darling Bye, ist. Gratitude. It was sweet of you to cable; I was so glad to
get it. In the hurry of my last note I forgot to thank you.
zd. Abuse. Why have you "quit writing"? Your letters have grown as
fitful as life's fever.
3d. Affection. Ted, the other day, apropos of nothing remarked dole-
fully, "If Auntie Bye does'n't come back soon she'll find the bunnies can't
help forgetting her a little, no matter how hard they try!"
Now for the rest of the letter. Edith and I, who hate mortally visiting
any one, having spent a night at the Mortons, have now accepted an invita-
tion to spend another at Rutherford Stuyvesant's (we bolt to New York
Sunday, on the plea of official business, being both of us social sprinters, with
no staying power), the Lodges having accepted; and now we find they can't
come, and feel decidedly downcast in consequence.
The victorious Republican leaders have taken to feasting themselves, and
especially Mark Hanna, and I have been at several Capuan entertainments,
from which I have emerged in a condition of plethora only reduced by fight-
ing Parker, or endeavoring to make Grant's brain less like a sweetbread. One
was a huge lunch by the Seligmans,1 where at least half the guests were Jew
bankers; I felt as if I was personally realizing all of Brooks Adams' gloomi-
est anticipations of our gold-ridden, capitalist-bestridden, usurer-mastered
future.
Ted is having fine fun at the Cove School; he has just defeated in single
fight a fellow American citizen named Peter Gallegher. Archie is too sweet.
Edith & I have lovely rides on the ponies; and I chop vigorously in the
woods. Yours
* Isaac Newton Seligman was a New York banker, Republican, reformer, humanitar-
ian; member of the Sound Money League and the Republican National Finance
Committee; later appointed by Governor Roosevelt trustee of the Manhattan State
Hospital for the Insane; brother of Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman, professor of
economics at Columbia; cousin of Albert Joseph Seligman, New York banker and
active Republican.
566
669 • TO BELLAMY STOKER Printed1
New York, November 19, 1896
Dear Bellamy , I have been thinking over that business, and now will you let
me write perfectly frankly?
In the first place, I question very much if it would be advisable to have
Lodge and myself go there together, especially if Lodge is to say anything
for me; and in the next place, do you think it advisable for me to go to
Canton at all? I rather hate to go. I want to write to McKinley about four
or five men — Procter in the Civil Service Commission, for instance — but
I hate to go and call on him for myself; and of course if you care to say
anything for me, old fellow, I think you could say it better a good deal if I
were away. So, unless you think to the contrary, or unless there is some rea-
son for a change, I believe that it would be best for me to come and dine
with you, and then you see McKinley by yourself, if you care to do so at all
(which I certainly hope you will).
Give my best love to Mrs. Storer, Faithftilly yours
P.S. I hope you won't think this impertinent. I should rather have you
speak in my behalf than anyone in the United States, and I think you could
do most good: but I rather hate to go there with you, for, somehow, it does
not seem to me that it would be a good thing for you to speak for me
before me.
670 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, December 4, 1896
Dear Cabot: — I need hardly say with what intense interest I read your
letter. I am delighted at what you say about McKinley. I do hope he will
take a strong stand both about Hawaii and Cuba. I do not think a war with
Spain would be serious enough to cause much strain on the country, or much
interruption to the revival of prosperity; but I certainly wish the matter
could be settled this winter. Nothing could be better than the attitude you
describe him as having on the tariff, and on civil service reform.
Now, old man, as to what you say about myself, I shall not try to express
any gratitude, for I don't suppose that between you and me it is necessary
for me to say what I feel. Of course I have no preconceived policy of any
kind which I wish to push through, and I think he would find that I would
not be in any way a marplot or agitator; but I really look upon the matter
with philosophical equanimity. The main reason why I would care to go to
Washington is to be near you. If you were not in Washington, I should
certainly prefer to stay here, even under the present unsatisfactory law, and
I am so absorbed in this work that I would not leave it if I had the proper
1 Storer, Roosevelt the Child) p. 20.
1 Lodge, I, 243-244.
567
power, or if I did not feel that I had about come to the end of what I could
accomplish that was worth accomplishing. Rather to my amusement today
General Wilson — "Cavalry" Wilson, of Delaware — turned up, and I
lunched with him and Charles A. Dana. Wilson had been writing to me
hoping to have me made Secretary of the Navy. I told him that was all non-
sense, and he then earnestly begged me not to take the Assistant Secretary-
ship. I did not say anything to him, because I thought it better not. Dana
evidently did not share his views, but wanted me to call on Platt, and see if
I could not get him to give us proper police legislation. Of course I did not
give either of them a hint that you or anyone else had approached McKinley
(Storer has just written me that he went to see him, and evidently Mrs.
Storer spoke to him about me at that time).
I wish I could call on Platt and see Governor Black. I have nothing to
ask for myself, but I would like them not to do anything, or permit the
legislature to do anything, which will damage the Republican Party. I won-
der if Platt would misinterpret my calling on him? What do you think?
Now old fellow! you must not mind in the least if McKinley does not
offer it to me. I think Storer will write him, but I don't suppose there is
anyone else that would, and I hate to ask anyone to, for I don't like to appear
in the position of a supplicant — for I am not a supplicant. I think I could
do honorable work as Assistant Secretary. If I am not offered it, then I shall
try to do honorable work here as long as I can, and then I shall turn to any
work that comes up.
Give my best love to Nannie and Bay. Always yours
671 -TO MARIA LONGWORTH STORER Printed1
Oyster Bay, December 5, 1896
Dear Mrs. Storer, It would be hard to tell how deeply touched Edith and I
were at your letter; and I never can say how much I appreciate your inter-
est, and your more than kindness; but it was just like you. We have read
and re-read your letter, separately and together, and it told us exactly what
we wished to know. I cannot thaiik you enough.
Of course I wrote to McKinley about Bellamy: putting it, not on any
feeling for Bellamy, but on the benefit I deemed it would be for the Party
and the Country.2 Cabot had gone to Canton before your letter came, on
McKinley's invitation, and without consultation with me. I suppose he spoke
for me, but the foreign policy of the Administration was what he really
1 Storer, Roosevelt the Child, pp. 23-24.
* Because of his own political obligations and the recommendations of Raima, Lodge,
Roosevelt, and Archbishop Ireland, McKinley proposed to nominate Storer as As-
sistant Secretary of State. Because Senator Joseph B. Foraker of Ohio refused to en-
dorse the appointment, the President abandoned his intention but named Storer
uiimstejr to Belffium.
568
went about. I was immensely amused at your encounter with Grant. But
there is a point on which I am inclined to differ from you. I don't wish to
go to Canton unless McKinley sends for me. I don't think there is any need
of it. He saw me when I went there during the campaign; and if he thinks
I am hot-headed and harum-scarum, I don't think he will change his mind
now. What you have said, dear Mrs. Storer, will count for more than seeing
me again, as he already knows me, and does not need to find out anything
by personal investigation. Moreover, I don't wish to appear as a supplicant,
for I am not a supplicant. I feel I could do good work as Assistant Secretary,
but if we had proper police laws I could do better work here and would
not leave; and somewhere or other I'll find work to do. If, however, Bellamy
is to be Secretary, I confess I would give a great deal to be under him; and,
of course, in view of the conditions here, I should be glad to take the position
with any good Secretary. I am deeply grateful to you, and I am so very
fond of you that I don't mind being under obligations to you.
Now for matters of more importance. I am very glad you went with
Bellamy, because it was highly necessary there should be someone to say
what you said. In view of what McKinley said, there is no doubt Bellamy
will be given some work worthy of him; and I earnestly hope it will be in
the Cabinet, though the French Mission would be almost as good. Of course,
let me know if there is anything further for me to do. I'll see you on the
22nd. By the way, will you ask Bellamy what is the very earliest train I can
take back after the dinner. I find Edith is much disturbed at the chance of
my not being back for the Cove School Christmas Tree, which I never miss,
and to which Ted this year belongs; and to get here I must take a train from
New York about 9:50 on the morning of the 24th, so I must reach New
York earlier than that. Ever yours
672 • TO ELIHU ROOT Root MSS.
New York, December 8, 1896
My dear Root: — This morning, on the heels of our talk of last night, came
a request made through Senator Lodge by Platt that I would call on him;
not specifying the Raines Law as a subject of discussion. I think this gives
me the opening I wish. Unless you feel very strongly to the contrary I
shall write him saying that I have heard that he would like to see me, and
that I will very gladly call on him at any time he may specify. I saw Mr.
Cornelius Bliss today and told him what I proposed, and he seemed to ap-
prove of it. Faithfully yours
[Handwritten] I'll only mention the kw as it happens to come up, & will
speak with guarded caution.
569
673 " TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, December 9, 1896
Dear Cabot: — I feel really ashamed, when I think of all you are doing; and
yet I ought not to, for I have become quite hardened to all manifestations of
your interest in anything that concerns me. I shall write Platt at once to get
an appointment to see him. Of course I should not go into the Department
to make war upon Platt, and so far as I had any influence, I would not allow
the patronage to be used for any such purpose. As a matter of fact, the Civil
Service Law would prevent any such use anyhow.
Now, ought I to write Senator Davis and thank him for his kindness? I
am very much touched by it.
Indeed, I do not think the Assistant Secretaryship in the least below
what I ought to have. Except you and one or two other equally mis-guided
people who persist in getting my personality out of focus, and except the
other people who do not realize that there is work to do for the Navy, no
one would think so. All I meant was that I had become so interested in the
fight here, and was so reluctant to leave it half done, that if I had full power
I should hesitate about leaving — though even in that case, I think I should
resolve my doubts in favor of going back to where I could be near you and
Nannie, the only people for whom I really care outside of my own family.
The Century people made just the same request of me, and curiously
enough, I like yourself, took the opportunity to make a plea for the "Hero
Tales." I shall go in and see them at once. I return the letter. Tell Nannie to
look in the next Forivm for my Review of Brooks' book.2 Ever yours
674 • TO MARIA LONGWORTH STORER Printed1
Oyster Bay, December 13, 1896
Decor Mrs. Storer, We again laughed immoderately over your letter; we
think you the very most interesting correspondent we have.
You are quite right to put Bellamy always forward; his overmodesty is
a real failing. I return McKinley's letter; I believe he will surely do some-
thing good for Bellamy, but I suppose at the moment he is really at sea as to
exactly his plans. If Hanna goes into the Cabinet I suppose Bellamy cannot;
but he should at least get France. The picture of Cabot backing "Sunie" 2 is
delightful.
1 Lodge, I, 247.
"Brooks Adams, Law of Civilization and Decay, an Essay on History (New York,
1895); reviewed by Theodore Roosevelt in Forum, 22:575-589 (January 1897).
The tone of this extended notice is suggested in Roosevelt's partial summation, 'This
is not a pleasant theory; it is in many respects an entirely fake theory; but neverthe-
less there is in it a very ugly element of truth."
1 Storer, Roosevelt the Child, p. 26.
1 Elijah Adams Morse.
570
I feel very strongly that it would be a mistake for me to go to Canton.
I should hate to put myself in Grant's position.
If what you write him does not influence him for me, my presence will
not. Indeed, I hate to catch such a mere hurried glimpse of you. I shall really
only see you just before and after dinner. But Monday I shall have to be in
New York at a Mayor's meeting and our own meeting. You see, I would not,
at that rime, go anywhere except to you or Cabot; and I can only just make
it by snatching every spare moment. I have been so busy that I don't get out
to Oyster Bay, even at night, save on Saturday and Sunday.
Best love to Bellamy, and from Edith, Yours always
675 ' TO BELLAMY STOKER Printed1
New York, December 15, 1896
Dear Bellamy, I entirely agree with you; it would be very far from wise to
visit Canton. I am looking forward to catching a glimpse of you, but it will
be only a glimpse, for on Monday I must be here, and so I shall take the
7.50 train over the Pennsylvania Line, reaching Cincinnati at 6.5 p.m., Thurs-
day, the twenty-second, just in time I suppose to see Mrs. Storer and your-
self before dinner; then I will take the eight o'clock train back next morning.
Now, old man, remember that you are the chief consideration, and don't
let your modesty interfere too much. Whether I stay here in a position that
would be important, one foot hampered, or whether I take the Assistant
Secretaryship, is not a matter of great note, though I need hardly say how
deeply I appreciate your efforts to get me the place; but what really is of
importance is that you should be appointed. Love to the Madam, faithfully
yours
676 • TO FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER Turner
New York, December 15, 1896
My dear Mr. Turner: — I was delighted to receive your letter. I am more
and more inclined to think that you are quite right as to the inadvisability
of my taking the tone I did toward Jefferson. The trouble is, that I meet so
many understudies of Jefferson in politics and suffer so much from them
that I am apt to let my feelings find vent in words! Fundamentally, I doubt
if our conceptions, both of him and his Federalist opponents, differ very
widely.
Did I tell you how much I liked your Atlantic Monthly article? 1 Per-
sonally, I think it will be a good thing for this country when the West, as
1 Storer, Roosevelt the Child, p. 27.
Frederick Jackson Turner, 'The Problem of the West," Atlantic Monthly, 78:289-
297 (September 1896).
571
it used to be called, the Centre, as it really is, grows so big that it can no
more be jealous of the East than New York is now jealous of Boston.
I am awfully afraid I shall not be able to be at that lecture on the morn-
ing of Thursday, as it is my Trial Day; but if you get to New York won't
you let me know in advance, so that I may have you to lunch with me on
Wednesday. Sincerely yours
677 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, December 17, 1896
Dear Cabot: We had an exceedingly pleasant dinner at Witherbee's.2 I must
say I was most favorably impressed with Black, and I can't help feeling he
is sound at heart, though his machine training is most unfortunate. Unless he
is a skillful dissimulator he also liked me. I am going to have a good deal of
correspondence with him not only on the liquor law, but about civil service
matters. Platt was exceedingly polite.
I don't like the election of the Populist Mayor in Lynn. It shows that the
workingmen are inclined to demand the impossible in the way of immediate
prosperity; and I fear some of our own people made a great error in not
following on the lines you laid down, and in making all kinds of promises of
immediate prosperity as a result of Republican rule, instead of merely say-
ing that we would give conditions which would allow the chance of pros-
perity.
Best love to Nannie. It was delightful to see Bay and yourself. Always
yours
678 • TO ALBERT SHAW Shaw
New York, December 17, 1896
Dear Dr. Shaw, Upon my word I am getting effete; I am losing my virile
power; — for I acquiesce, with lamblike meekness, in your ruthless slaughter
of all that was really good in my article. I make but one condition; that you
shall leave in the paragraph on p. 4 which you have marked to drop. Heaven
knows, you have cut out enough; and that paragraph contains the summing
up of my own belief, which I should not be willing to have omitted; so I
must ask that it go in. I have forgotten now just what are the best para-
graphs, which you have struck out; kter on I shall remember them — and
then I suppose I shall regret allowing the article to appear at all. I have
passed a very undecided half hour over it; because I think those men need a
tonic, and I have now put myself in a condition where I can't administer it,
1 Lodge, I, 248.
•Frank Spencer Witherbee, was an industrialist, a man of affairs, conservationist,
former member of the Republican National Committee (1888), member of the New
York State Republican Committee.
572
by giving half the dose prematurely. At any rate, please send me back all the
parts of the article you have cut out. I shall try to use them in a more robust
piece.
I see you intend putting in a picture of me, so I send you a photo of
myself & Jacob Riis; which shows just the type of man with whom I do
work! Sincerely yours
679 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, December 29, 1896
Dear Cabot: — I am in a great quandary how to answer you. I have read
and re-read your interview a dozen times. All I am afraid is that it may be
misconstrued; there is not a sentence in it which is not entirely proper, but
I am nervous lest it's general purport may be misunderstood. Would it not
be well to add, even if it may be surplusage a tag in which you state that
you wish it definitely understood that you favor immediate steps for the
independence of Cuba, even at the risk of war with Spain, and that you wish
it understood also that conditions may at any time change so as to render it
absolutely imperative at any cost to try to secure prompt action; but that as
things are now it is evident that nothing can be done, and when this is the
case it is your plain duty not to allow the wheels of legislation to be blocked
by a resolution which at the moment means nothing. Of course your judg-
ment is better than mine, and don't add this if you think it unwise. I am
inclined to think, however, that some such addition would make it all right,
and that then it would be a good thing to put out the interview; but I do
not want to allow any chance of your being misunderstood, or being ham-
pered in any future action.
How I wish I could see you on the new horse, and accompany you on
the long rides, and watch your management of the Gary pet with respectful
admiration.
Grant's folly has made things almost intolerable here. He is a heaven-sent
tool for Parker. I have written to Cushman K. Davis.
Best love to Nannie. By the way, don't you think that "Father Archangel
of Scotland" was an amusing little book in some ways? Yours
68O • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CO'WleS MSS.°
Oyster Bay, January 2, 1897
Darling Bye, On Xmas the ever-delightful Captain Stoots arrived, looking
like a queer sea-growth from among his own clams, and sent in an envelope
with the outside "merry Xmas" and inside, his bill!
I am a quiedy rampant "Cuba Libre" man. I doubt whether the Cubans
would do very well in the line of self-government; but anything would be
1 Lodge, 1,249-250.
573
better than continuance of Spanish rule. I believe that Cleveland ought now
to recognize Cubas independence and interfere; sending our fleet promptly
to Havanna. There would not in my opinion be very serious fighting; and
what loss we encountered would be thrice over repaid by the ultimate re-
sults of our action.
Xmas week here was lovely; heavy snow, bright, cold weather, and out
of door sport from morning to night. It is now mild, with everything thaw-
ing. We can go up and down both the front and back roads, and wheels are
supplanting runners. Ted and I yesterday found we could no longer use
skis, and have gone back to chopping. I hate to leave the country; but for
the next two or three months it will be better for me to be in town, because
of my work. In the Police Department we make progress at the cost of the
same ceaseless worry and interminable wrangling. I shall have about five
million things to talk over with you and Will when I see you. Yours always
68 1 -TO ALBERT SHAW Shaiu Mss.
New York, January 4, 1897
Dear Dr. Shaw: If I can I will come to that meeting on February fifteenth;
but I fear I have another engagement.
You say I have "nothing to say" against the Platt system of politics. I
really don't think you can have read anything about me, even in the Sun
newspaper, for the last year or so. Why, I am not saying merely; I am doing,
in every act of my official life, all that in me lies to protest against such
politics.
I do not at all agree with your estimate of Governor Morton. I am
keenly alive to, and have suffered heavily by some of 'his shortcomings; but
he has been far and away the best Governor we have had for many a long
day.
I shall have to see you to talk over these things. Sincerely yours
682 -TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CoiuleS MsS.°
New York, January 8, 1897
Darling Bye, Your last letter was most interesting; how charming and inter-
esting it must have been at the Galways. Edith and I continue to thoroughly
enjoy our winter in New York. We do not go out much; about three din-
ners a week; but only where we care to go; and we have our own pleasant
set, and the children are profiting immensely by their opportunities — not
to speak of my own interest in my work.
About the Whites, I have not answered you so far, because I have not
wished to put on paper just why it is that Harry White stands so well, and
it involves a seemingly disagreeable comparison with Bayard and Rosy. With
all that you say as to their folly, and worse, in allowing their children to
be denationalized, I heartily agree; and Daisey White is in feeling not an
American atall, though she is very charming, and Edith and I are fond on
both, because not only of their being so pleasant to us recently, but showing
us so much kindness in London ten years ago. These shortcomings would
be conclusive were they not altogether outweighed by Harry White's spe-
cial and really extraordinary fitness for and services as a diplomat in London;
fitness and services which would entitle him to a far higher position if they
were all that were to be considered. Phelps and Lincoln are never tired of
singing his praises;1 but the conclusive testimony has been given within the
last year, and by the very administration which removed him. You must not
say anything about this; and I can not put on paper what I will tell you
when we meet; but I have as my authorities the letters I have seen from
Salisbury, Harcourt and Balfour, and what Olney and Rockhill have them-
selves told me. White knows the very men whom it is all-important he
should know; and he knows them in just the right way for the purposes of
the position. During the exceedingly delicate negotiations of the last ten
months he has rendered invaluable services, and has been trusted as no man
not in official position has before been trusted; and he has helped undo the
damage Bayard did. For Bayard Olney and everybody at Washington feel
utter contempt; Rosy they like, and think him a good, ordinary Secretary,
who on the Continent might be almost as good as White; but in London he
can not begin to render the services the latter has been called upon to render,
and has rendered; and it is an unheard of tribute to his ability that he should
have been asked to render them, to the exclusion of those whose official duty
it was. I will give you the details when I see you; and meanwhile you must
not say a word of this; but I feel you ought to know it to understand the
unanimity of feeling here among the men who know the facts. Only a poor
Ambassador — perhaps Depew — can prevent White's going back.
Give my love to Will. Yours ever
683 • TO JACOB E. BAUSCH 'Printed'1
New York, January 12, 1897
Dear Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of Jan. 1 1 requesting
us to withdraw the patrolmen placed for the protection of the New York
1 Edward John Phelps had been minister to Great Britain, 1885-1889; Robert Todd
Lincoln had been minister to Great Britain, 1889-1893.
*New York Sun, January 13, 1897. Jacob E. Bausch was corresponding secretary of
the Central Labor Union; he considered Police Chief Conlin an enemy of trade-
unions. On behalf of the striking New York Cab Company drivers, Bausch had
written Roosevelt requesting the withdrawal of the police placed at the disposal of
the company and asserting that their presence provoked violence. Roosevelt would
not remove the plain-domes men. An astringent assessment of Roosevelt* s relations
with kbor during his tenure as police commissioner is in chapter v of Hurwitz,
Roosevelt and Labor in New York State. For a benign comment on the Cab Com-
pany strike and other kbor issues, see Jacob August Riis, Theodore Roosevelt the
Citizen (New York, 1904), ch. vi.
575
Cab Company on the ground that the striking cab drivers contemplate no
violence; and further alleging that officers in civilian clothes prowl about in
the cabs, especially in the neighborhood where the people and law-abiding
strikers assemble in order to provoke them to violence. I have shown this
letter to the chief and the only member of the board who is in the building
at this time.
As a matter of fact the strikers or their sympathizers have committed a
number of brutal assaults upon the peaceable employees of the New York
Cab Company, in addition to attempting to destroy the property of the
company. While there is the slightest danger of the repetition of such an
assault, not only will policemen be stationed to protect the property of the
company, but they will be further employed in uniform or in plain clothes,
as may seem best to the department. If possible, they will prevent any out-
rage, or attempted outrage, by any lawbreakers, and if they cannot prevent
it, at least they will see that immediate and sharp justice is meted out to the
lawbreakers. If the strikers are law abiding and peaceable they can have no
possible objection to the presence of the police, who will interfere only
with the disorderly and lawless, and if any man is incited to violence by the
presence of an officer of the law, the very fact affords proof that he is of
disorderly and vicious character, and that there is urgent need of the pres-
ence of the officers of the law to sustain him. This department will not for
one moment tolerate lawlessness and disorder. Yours truly
684 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, January 30, 1897
Dear Cabot: To my horror the Sun yesterday put me down as opposed to
the restriction of immigration; this being the way they had construed an
ardent appeal of mine to the labor union men to restrict it. I corrected it in
the Sim of this morning. I had an extremely interesting conference with the
union men, though I was much irritated at certain jacks immediately trying
to undo the good, by saying that I ought to get their support as candidate
for Mayor.2
I wrote to Platt telling him how much I approved his speech at Albany,
except on the Cuba question.
I really don't know that there is any one I care much to see at Washing-
1 Lodge, I, 251-252.
•Roosevelt went to Clarendon Hall, a beer parlor, to have a "glass of ale" with sev-
eral labor leaders. He went, he said, as "just plain me" to discuss various labor prob-
lems, particularly the relations between the police and strikers. Jacob Riis, who
accompanied him, reported that Roosevelt's protests against labor violence were
loudly applauded. Roosevelt promised to help union representatives secure the en-
forcement of municipal hours-and-wages kws. After the conference, certain kbor
leaders, impressed by his courage and honesty, expressed their hope that he might
become mayor, an idea Roosevelt quickly rejected.
ton unless it is Cushman K. Davis; and if I get a chance I shall stop in for
five minutes to see Olney. You and Nannie are my objective points! Always
yours
685 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CO'WleS MSS.Q
New York, January 31, 1897
Darling Bye, Kermit is now and then haunted by the fear that Waring and
I may unexpectedly change places; the other day he remarked with fervor
1 to his mother, on seeing a street sweeper "I do'n't want to be a street sweeper
when I grow up; oh, mother! it must be an orful dull life!" He, & his cousin
Jack, and the others of his class at dancing school have all lost so many front
teeth that it looks like a class of little ruminants, varied by an occasional
norwhal. The dancing class is a great success for all three children; in fact in
all ways we are enjoying our second winter in New York.
I have deposit the third installment of the rent to your credit.
New York is now convulsed over the Bradley Martin ball,1 owing to
that fool Rainsford 2 having denounced it; I shall have to protect it by as
many police as if it were a strike. We refused, because we have never liked
the Bradley Martins; but after the talk that was made I was almost tempted
to retract my refusal.
The other day I had a most interesting meeting with the leaders of the
labor unions, at Clarendon Hall; Jacob Riis and Bob went along with me.
We talked for over three hours, with entire courtesy and also entire frank-
ness; and we got along together much better than I had expected. In fact
I think we parted distinctly pleased with one another.
I have just received a long letter from the big South African hunter
Selous;3 I suppose you have never met him? Ted is spending Sunday at
Corinne's.
I do'n't like Mrs. Steeles last book, the Face of the Waters;4 it has some
good points, but it is tedious and involved, and morbid in it's everlasting
insistence on the unhealthy sides of sex relationship.
Give my best love to Will. At the last Assembly I went down to supper
with Mrs. Bayard Cutting. Yours
1 This ill-timed social function, planned by the wealthy New Yorker Bradley Martin,
was a celebrated example of conspicuous waste. It served for several years as a
sordid target for the godly and the rabble-rouser.
a William Stephen Rainsford, rector of St. George's Church in New York City.
'Frederick Courteney Selous, British hunter, explorer, and ivory trader in South
Africa. In 1890 he was the intermediary between Cecil Rhodes and the Matabele
chieftain, Lobengula.
4 Flora Annie Steel, On the Face of the Waters, a Tale of the Mutiny (New York,
1897).
577
686 • TO WILLIAM GARY SANGER Printed1
New York, February 5, 1897
[My Dear Sir:] I have read with interest the four pages of questions quoted
from the Police Civil Service examinations, under the heading "The Reign
of Roosevelt," and apparently gathered by or for Mr. Abraham Gruber. He
refers to these questions as if they were in some way improper, and not such
as should be asked candidates for the position of patrolman.
It may be well at the outset to state that patrolmen receive ultimately
$1,400 a year, and that from their ranks are developed a chief, a deputy chief,
five inspectors, thirty-seven captains, nearly 200 sergeants and nearly 200
roundsmen, with salaries ranging from $6,000 to $1,500. The highest among
these men occupy positions of trust as important as there are in the city, and
even the ordinary patrolman is an exceptionally well-paid public official in
a position of exceptional responsibility. To many of our poorer fellow citi-
zens he is the embodiment of government itself, and it is to him that they
must look for law and justice. Such an officer, therefore, should not only
be brave, honest and physically powerful, but also possessed of intelligence
distinctly above the average.
This intelligence is excellently tested by our mental examinations, which
include five subjects — spelling, penmanship, letter writing, simple arith-
metic and a rudimentary acquaintance with the history, government and
geography of the United States.
Mr. Gruber does not take the position that patrolmen should be unable
to spell or write, and therefore I need not touch upon these features of the
examination. He seems to regard with hostility, however, all the other
kinds of questions which are asked.
Of the test in arithmetic I can only say that we always ask five questions,
of which the first is simply one of addition and subtraction, the second one
of multiplication and division, and the last three simple problems embracing
no higher tests than operations in common fractions. The samples which
Mr. Gruber quotes could be answered by any man who has been to a public
school until he was 12 or 14 years of age, or who possesses the most ordinary
intelligence. Among the duties that fall to the police is the taking of the
school census. Patrolmen who are unfit to pass our simple examination in
arithmetic are unfit to take such census. I can even go further. Mr. Gruber
apparently objects to the asking of the question: "What is the salary of a
captain if it is 14-11 times that of a sergeant, which is $2,200?" And this is
a good sample question of those to which he objects. Now, if a patrolman
cannot reckon up such a sum as that he is quite unfit to take care of his
monthly salary or to make it square with his board and lodging bills; he is
1 New York Sun, February 6, 1897. William Gary Sanger was a member of New York
Assembly, 1895-1897; officer of the National Guard in the Spanish-American War;
inspector of the New York National Guard, 1900; Assistant Secretary of War, 1901-
578
quite unfit to decide how much he can allow to his wife for household ex-
penses or to keep an account at the savings bank. In short, it is inconceivable
that any man who does not consider all knowledge a detriment should object
to testing a policeman in ordinary arithmetic.
The part of the examination to which Mr. Gruber seems to object most
strenuously is that embracing geography, history and government. During
the year when we asked the questions which he quotes the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York examined some thou-
sands of aliens seeking naturalization. The clerk of the court required them
to answer certain questions in United States history and government which
are almost precisely such as those we have asked. Among the questions thus
asked were the following: (i) "How long do Senators hold office?" (2)
"How long does the President hold office?" (5) "Who elects the United
States Senate?" (6) "When was the Declaration of Independence signed?"
(7) "Where is the capital of the United States?" (8) "Who was the first
President of the United States?" (9) "What are the duties of the Presi-
dent?" (10) "Who makes the laws of the United States?"
Mr. Gruber's contention apparently is that questions which it is proper
to ask a man before he becomes a citizen are improper when asked him
upon his seeking to become the official representative of all citizens and, in
a peculiar sense, the guardian of the laws and the upholder of the Govern-
ment.
Perhaps by quoting the answers to some of the questions we asked it may
be possible to give a clearer idea of the mental development of the candidates
who failed. For example, one question we asked was to name five of the
States that seceded from the Union in 1861. One answer was "New York,
Albany, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Delaware."
Another question was, "Name five of the New England States?" One
answer to this question was, "England, Ireland, Scotland, Whales and Cork."
Another answer was, "London, Africa and New England." Another question
was, "In what State and on what body of water is Chicago?" One competitor
answered, "New York State, on the Atlantic Ocean," and another, "Cali-
fornia, on the Pacific Ocean." Another question was to name five of the
States bordering on the Great Lakes, to which one competitor answered,
"New Jersey, Georgia, Florida and Alabama." Another question was, "Name
four of the Executive departments of this Government?" Among the answers
was one of two words, "Exzctiv Commite." Another question was "Upon
what written instrument is the Government of the United States founded?"
The conclusion one bright competitor reached was expressed in the brief
word "Paper." Yet another question was "Into what three branches is the
Government of the United States divided?" Rather a common answer to this
during the heat of the last campaign was "Democrats, Republicans and
Populists." Another question on this line recently asked was: "What is the
highest branch of the Judiciary Department of the United States?" This
579
selfishly interested in its overthrow. These men will, I am sure, on studying
the system, become its hearty supporters. But the professional foes of Civil
Service reform methods cannot be converted by meeting their objections
and showing them to be ill founded. Their objection to the system is funda-
mental, for they object to it because it tells so strongly for decent govern-
ment. The other day a Captain on the force, in speaking to me about the
improvement in the character of the men appointed, mentioned incidentally
the shame and indignation that was felt by honest policemen in the old days,
when they saw the very corner loafers whom they had themselves driven off
their beats or arrested appointed on the force through their pull with un-
scrupulous politicians. The men who object to that method of helping get
decent government, which is known by the name of Civil Service reform,
are in reality trying to secure a return to the old days, when even an igno-
rant criminal might get on the force if only his pull was strong enough.
f Very truly yours]
687 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES Cowks MSS.°
New York, February 21, 1897
Darling Bye, Your estimate of Bayard seems to me entirely just. He has
evidently been, in the best way, a success socially; simple, kindly, dignified,
in his treatment of English and Americans alike. But he has been a dreadful
failure as a diplomat; and it has always seemed to me funny that the English
did not understand that it was to Bayard they owed the acute and humiliat-
ing form the Venezuela dispute took. A little resolute, clearsighted firmness,
and upholding of the American cause, by him, at the right time, would have
averted all the subsequent trouble.
But of course he would simply shine compared to Depew, if we send
this jocose beast abroad. Oh, Lord! I suppose I shall have to make the best
of him.
As you have to keep on with your house I hope you can stay through
the season; but remember, as far as we are concerned, that this year we shall
be entirely ready to move out by the first of April.
Good Harry Whitmore is always a sore trial.
I have no idea whether I shall be offered the Assistant Secretaryship of
the Navy or not. If so, I shall probably take it, because I am intensely inter-
ested in our navy, and know a good deal about it, and it would mean four
years work; whereas I can not now do so very much more in my present
position, and my work here will probably close with the end of this year
anyhow. But of course this is the most important and most useful position,
as long as it lasts; and I am sorely tempted to see the thing through here, in
any event; so I shall be quite content if I am not offered the other place.
There is nothing I should like more than to come abroad for a fortnight's
stay with you this spring in London; you know just the very people I
582
should most like to see — Lecky, Brice, Birrell &c — and I would more than
like to see you in the position I think peculiarly in your line; but it will be
out of the question for me to leave here, unless I am out of office entirely.
Our gaiety is rather coming to an end; but last week we dined with the
Whitridges, Chanlers & Redmonds; and today we lunch with Mrs. Jones;
while I have had my usual semi-professional engagements. I saw Rosy for a
moment at the Metropolitan Club. Good Lord, think of Mr. Depew & Lizzie
Stewart as the combination in London! Love to Will. Yours always
68 7 A • TO THOMAS RAYNESFORD LOUNSBURY LoUTlsbury
New York, March 2, 1897
Dear Mr. Loimsbury: — That is a book which I should particularly like to
have.
The only fault we had to find with you was that you declined to talk
enough. By all odds the most interesting part of the evening was at the very
last when you at last consented to "get going."
By the way, to help me in a futile controversy with Marion Crawford,1
who feels that the permanence of the English language is threatened when
"u" is not kept in honor, and who insists that "author" is derived through
the Italian, would you mind giving me six or eight words which are ordi-
narily spelled with "or," but which are derived through exactly the same
channel as honor? Faithfully yours
688 • TO HENRY WHITE Henry White Mss.
New York, March 8, 1897
My dear White: You are very good to have written me. In view of John
Hay's selection, I hope I may regard your matter as settled; at least it seems
perfectly incredible to me that there should be any other possible solution
than your reappointment.
As for myself, I have been so absorbed in the fight here that I have had
little time to think of my chances of Assistant Secretary of the Navy; and
during the last month or so, I have become convinced that they are very
small, because neither the Platt nor the anti-Platt people of New York feel
that I am a useful ally, and in this feeling they are quite right. I know they
have industriously sought to persuade the President and Secretary Long
that I would be headstrong, impractical and insubordinate. As a matter of
fact, were I appointed, the very qualities that have made me insist on the
1 Francis Marion Crawford, novelist, nephew of Julia Ward Howe and Samuel Ward.
Educated in Rome, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Cambridge, England, and Concord, New
Hampshire, he became an accomplished linguist, an itinerant journalist in India, and,
finally, an indefatigable producer of fiction. There was, in the best of his forty novels,
a high romance and a kind of baroque glitter that won for him a wide and undis-
criminating audience.
583
obedience of my subordinates, would also render me prompt in carrying out
the policy of my superior officer. It ought not to be necessary to say that I
would take the position understanding thoroughly that I was there, not to
carry out my own course, but to help to the best of my ability Secretary
Long to carry out his, and to make his administration a success, and this I
should certainly try to do.
However, as I said, the intolerable nature of the situation here has com-
pletely absorbed my attention. I rather think that Grant and Parker have
been partly acting under orders with a view to giving the machine an excuse
for passing a biff to legislate us out, and thereby getting control of the
patronage. I do not mind an open fight, but with two such men as colleagues,
the struggle lacks all of the exhilaration of actual combat. It is like watching
somebody to see that he does not put poison in your coffee.
Lodge is not only my dearest friend, but is also the most faithful and
loyal man I have ever known. I am deeply touched by what he is doing.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. White; Mrs. Roosevelt and I hated not
having had a chance to see you both. Always faithfully yours
689 • TO HENRY WHITE Henry White Mss.
New York, March 1 1, 1897
My dear White: Lodge has just written me telling me how disinterestedly
you have concerned yourself on my behalf, in the middle of all your own
affairs; it touched me very much.
Now, old man, don't you bother about me. I can say quite sincerely that
I am much more anxious to have you go back to London as First Secretary
than I am to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy, for I think it is a much
more important thing that you should go back, and as for me, I am pretty
well accustomed to the buffeting of American political life, and take things
with much philosophy. I try to give as good as I get.
I have just had a long letter from James Bryce, the "American Common-
wealth" man. I am glad McKinley came out so strongly for the Arbitration
Treaty.1
Give my warm regards to Mrs. White. Sincerely yours
690 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MSS.°
New York, March 14, 1897
Darling Bye, Tell Will he was very good to write me; I do'n't answer his
lettter, because the newspapers speak as though he might turn up here at
any time. I suppose we shall here in a few days now when he, and when
you, intend to come back.
1The treaty between Great Britain and Venezuela, November 1896, submitted the
boundary dispute to a mixed tribunal composed of two Englishmen, two Americans
and a Russian umpire.
584
At a dinner at the Bronsons' this week Bradley Martin took Edith in;
we were immensely amused by the intense seriousness with which they
regard themselves and their ball.
Grant and Parker between them have brought the affairs of the Police
Department into an utter snarl; I think partly under directions from the
machine, as it has served for an excuse to bring in a bill at Albany to legis-
late us all out. Personally I should be extremely glad to see it pass, for now
I can do very little positive good there, and it is most bitter to see my work
undone. I have no idea what I should do next; but I should enjoy and should
feel I deserved, three or four months holiday at Sagamore; and surely there
is something I can turn my hand to. Yours always
691 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, March 19, 1897
Dear Cabot: I have received both your letters. Edith got hold of the first
immediately on her return from Philadelphia, where she had been spending
three days, and insisted on reading it aloud to me, and endorsing all the
views it set forth with fairly rabid emphasis. I have no more speeches in
view excepting one a fortnight hence at the Young Men's Republican Club
of Brooklyn, which is a rather representative body, and where I cannot
conceive of anything unpleasant happening.
As for talking about "forgiving" you for writing me advice which was
most sound, and which merely added a needless proof of the depth of your
interest in my welfare — why, I shall simply decline to discuss that propo-
sition.
I had abandoned all idea of the Assistant Secretaryship, and was not
thinking about it until those two last letters of your came. Now, a word of
justification as to the Social Reform Club incident. I have had nobody
back of me for the last two years here and every ounce of strength I have
got is due to my own personal exertions. I have found that especially among
workingmen, and Germans, and political organizations on the East and West
sides, there was a good deal of distrust of me and misunderstanding of my
position, which I could often remove if I came before them in person. If
I had not been able to get some sentiment in my favor I should have been
out of this office long ago. The other day the clergy all declared in my
favor, primarily because I have spoken so often at their meetings, and have
made them partners, so to speak, in my work. I have, at least, prevented
many of the East side organizations from taking any hostile steps against
me by what I have done, and have won a few of them over. Nine times
out of ten by going to speak before them I do good; the tenth it works
badly. Of course this does not excuse me for failing to take every possible
measure to prevent such an occurrence as that of the other night, for I
appreciate fully the discredit attaching to what looked like a joint debate
1 Lodge, 1,257-260.
585
with an abusive socialist blackguard. The Social Reform Club has at its top
a lot of thoroughly well-meaning philanthropists like Mrs. Josephine Shaw
Lowell,2 Dr. Rainsford, Ernest Howard Crosby, etc., and it also has a large
number of Labor Union Leaders. It ought to be influential and responsible,
but I doubt if it is either. For over a year they have been begging me to
come, and this winter I finally consented. Waring addressed them the other
day, and so have two or three of the heads of City Departments without
anything disagreeable happening; but they are a lot of utter cranks, and they
showed this when they came to deal with me. Their body contains many
socialists and anarchists, both of the parlor and practical kinds, and these
men, I am happy to say, regard me with a peculiar hatred. Without giving
me a word of warning they asked this Oppenheimer, who is a European
refugee, and who has been in prison abroad, and who is a violent socialist
and agitator, to answer me. I knew nothing of it until Oppenheimer got up
with his typewritten manuscript in his hand, copies of which he had al-
ready sent to the papers, and die room was filled to overflowing with the
people who had come round to cheer the attack. In short, it was a put-
up-job, for which the well-meaning fools who had invited me were really
responsible. The Sun has recently had rather a relapse about me, and any-
how is always willing to chronicle with delightful indifference a hard blow
struck, whether it happens to be a foul or not. The reporters on most of
these City papers are, as I have found out during the last Presidential Cam-
paign, predominantly of the free silver, socialist stripe, and they had all
been informed in advance by the Oppenheimer people of what he was to
do. As soon as he began to speak I saw what I was in for, and the only
way to make the best of a bad business was to fight it out. Now, I am
going to say something in which I fear even you will believe my judgment
is entirely wrong. The impression conveyed by the morning papers, with the
possible exception of the utterly unimportant Times, was wholly erroneous.
my speech I had driven Oppenhe
the room, and I had the audience perfectly crazily on my side. They cheered
me and cheered me again and again, and thronged around me so to shake
hands, and to tell me that they had changed their opinion, that I was not
able to get away for half an hour. But of course this did not count for any-
thing, as they were an unimportant aggregation of warring microbes, and
the papers made it look the other way.
I was very glad that the Mayor acted. I do not suppose that the Gov-
* Josephine Shaw Lowell, a sister of Robert Gould Shaw, was prominent from 1870
until her death in 1905 in reform activities in New York City. She was a member of
the State Board of Charities, the founder of the Charity Organization Society, and
a cofounder of the Consumer's League. An energetic and exceedingly forthright
woman, she became a constant and frequently critical correspondent of Roosevelt
while he was Governor of New York.
586
ernor will sustain him, but the Mayor's action itself strengthens me; and
it furnished an additional reason for refusing to pass the bill. At present
it seems probable that the bill will not go through, but no one can tell.
I myself doubted whether it would be wise for you to go abroad this
summer, but I did not like to say so. I am glad you have begun the fight
on your Immigration Bill again. I took a kind of grim satisfaction in Cleve-
land's winding up his career by this action, so that his last stroke was given
to injure the country as much as he possibly could. I am immensely sur-
prised and pleased about Senator Chandler. I shall do just as you advise.
I quite understand the embarrassment of the matter so far as Platt is con-
cerned, both from his standpoint and from ours. It is of course very hard
for him to have the big places go to his political opponents; but on the
other hand his trusted lieutenants are a dreadful lot. I was much amused at
Chandler's telling you this, for, of course, that is the fundamental trouble
I have had with the machine. When they have put up a man like Health
Officer Doty,8 or District Attorney Olcott,4 I have jumped at the chance
of supporting them with all enthusiasm; but the men they have asked me
to promote and appoint in my Department have usually been men of such
low character that it was a simple impossibility to do anything with them.
I do not mean that they were politicians, or merely negative persons, I mean
that they were guilty of blackmail, personal corruption, ballot-box stuffing
and the like. I think it extremely kind of Hobart5 and Hanna to have done
what they did.
No human being except Edith shall know anything about Chandler.
Always yours
P.S. Harry White wrote me a very nice letter. Naturally enough he
seemed fairly awed by the energy and resolution with which you had been
working for me. I think it is the kind of disinterestedness to which he has
not been accustomed in politics. Best love to Nannie.
692 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, March 20, 1897
Dear Cabot, Immediately upon receipt of your telegram I called upon
Olcott, .and then talked with Doty, who is stationed on Staten Island, over
the telephone. They both responded in the nicest way possible; it really
made me feel that I did not mind being under the obligation to them. I
* Alvah H. Doty, health officer of the port of New York.
* William Morrow Knox Olcott, district attorney of New York County, formerly
chairman of the city finance committee.
5 Garret Augustus Hobart, Vice-President of the United States, 1897-1899. A wealthy
New Jersey lawyer and businessman, long influential in the Republican party in his
state, Hobart was distinguished as Vice-President by the brilliance of the social
gatherings at his home.
1 Lodge, I, 260-261.
587
have had very intimate official relations witn ootn; ana i was genuinely
pleased at the heartiness with which they at once responded. Olcott saw
Platt last night and again this morning; and Doty came all the way in from
Staten Island to see him early this morning. Olcott has just been up to see
me and told me the result of the interview. It was not favorable. Platt said
substantially just what you have reported. He said he should not oppose me,
if I was nominated as a man whose nomination was not to be charged to him
or New York; but that Bliss and Porter were anti-organization men and the
remaining places should be given to the organization; and that my appoint-
ment would mean one place less for the organization people, to which he
could not well consent. He said he thought I was honest (which was kind
of him), and that from what they said I was evidently a good executive
officer, with whom it was not so difficult as was popularly supposed to get
along; and that in one way my appointment would please the machine, as
it would take me out of my present office, as there now seemed little chance
of accomplishing this by legislation; but that he felt both they, and I, ought
to understand that he could not assent to my receiving a place which ought
to be credited to the organization. Do you know, I hate to write you this,
for I believe you will mind it a good deal more than I do.
When you think proper, I wish to write to Long and thank him very
heartily, and to explain to him that I should have been entirely loyal and
subordinate.
Best love to Nannie. Always yours
693 ' TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES C&wleS
New York, March 20, 1897
Darling Bye, We were delighted to hear from the cable. I shall meet Will;
and we'll move out by the last of April (just the time we wished to) so
that the house will be all ready for you.
Why propose to stay with Uncle Jimmie? What is the matter with
Sagamore for two or three months this summer? You will be the centre
of an adoring circle which feels it has two or three months arrears to make it.
I do not think there is much chance of my being made Assistant Secre-
tary of the Navy; it is possible, but very improbable, for I have no ardent
backers from New York State, and the machine leaders hate me more than
any other man; and even all dear Cabot's work can not offset this. I really
think he minds it much more than I do.
On the other hand we shall probably not be legislated out; though for
this I do not much care as we can accomplish but little now; for I fear
that the Governor will not ratify the Mayor's action in removing Parker
— action, I am delighted to say, which he has at last taken.
Edith and the children continue as well as possible; altogether, in spite
588
of my personal worries, this has been a very successful winter. Yours
always
694 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, March 22, 1897
Dear Cabot: I was delighted to get your letter this morning. I felt a little
down-cast over the prospect after what Olcott and Doty told me, for they
are the only Platt men I know who could go to Platt about me, and they
took the greatest trouble to go, and I have no doubt they backed me in
every way. It may be that Platt will consent to my nomination if some of
his friends go in at the same time; but I don't feel very hopeful in the matter.
I hate like poison to have you pull such a laboring oar on my behalf, when
I can do nothing. Olcott and Doty were so pleasant and so delighted to
speak for me, even at some inconvenience to themselves, that I did not mind
a bit having asked them the favor. I was a good deal touched too at the
heartiness with which they responded, for they have been thrown into
close contact with me, and if I were an unpleasant person to get along with,
they would certainly know it. There does not seem much chance of the
bill to turn us out passing, and still less chance of Parker being put out.
Just at this moment Lauterbach has called me up over the telephone, and
volunteered the information that he and Quigg at the regular Sunday con-
ference yesterday, advised Platt to favor me for Assistant Secretary. Now,
I have not the slightest idea whether this is true or not, but it evidently does
mean that good resulted from the visits of Olcott and Doty, and that the
matter was brought under discussion. I daresay if Platt got other things at
the same time, or some other one thing which he wants very much, he
might consent to me; but at bottom I fear their objection to me is radical.
Whenever you say, I shall write Long. I want him to understand that I
know enough to go into this position, if I am offered it, with my eyes
open, and shall work hard, and shall stay at Washington, hot weather or
any other weather, whenever he wants me to stay there, and go wherever
he sends me, and my aim should be solely to make his administration a
success.
From what Lauterbach says I think it evident that Platt is really making
the machine's hostility to me merely an excuse. I think the machine would
be quite willing to see me appointed so as to get me out of the city; at least
Lauterbach's words were what if Platt would consent the rest would be
entirely willing; but he told me to keep what he said entirely confidential,
so that you must not let Platt know that Lauterbach has talked to me. Al-
ways yours
1 Lodge, I, 261-262.
589
695 ' TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, March 23, 1897
Dear Cabot: Just a line to tell you that the machine people here evidently
have it in their heads that I am to be made Assistant Secretary of the Navy,
and evidently approve of it as a means of getting me out of New York.
I rather wonder whether some of what Platt told Doty and Olcott was not
merely said with the hope of making me give him something in connec-
tion with this office, or else to establish a ground for holding off, so as to
get something for the Administration. Always yours
P.S. Harry White has just turned up: and he was really touching in de-
scribing how you have worked for me. There is nothing I can say except
that I am well aware of it, old man.
696-10 HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, March 29, 1897
Dear Cabotj Immediately on receiving your second telegram I started; I
picked up a good deal of negative information; but unless I am greatly
mistaken I excited, and had to excite, some suspicion. But of that I shall
write you tomorrow.
Of this much I am certain. The Mayor has now no idea whom he would
appoint, were there a vacancy on the Board. The only man of whom he
has ever so much as spoken a word is Edward Mitchell,2 and this was a mere
casual expression. He would be well inclined to a machine man like Olcott
or Doty, but would on no account appoint any of the ordinary gang of
machine heelers. He would doubtless listen to anything from a man like Cor-
nelius Bliss. But he would not agree (and I should not advise him to agree)
to anything in the nature of a bargain, by which he would take some organi-
zation man, not fitted for the place; and I very much fear that this is what
Platt means. Strong would wish in my place only some man of the very
highest type.
You are awfully good not to have sent those letters I wrote; I only felt
that when you did so much I ought to do something, and not be a mere
dead weight! I didn't like to write them.
Now, show this letter to Tom Reed, and if you think it wise show the
next sheet to Platt; for it contains something I would like to say to him,
but which it is useless to say to the corrupt gang behind him; and they are
simply awful!
1 Lodge, I, 263.
1 Lodge, I, 263-264.
'Edward Mitchell, New York City lawyer, Republican reformer; assemblyman,
1880; president, Republican County Committee, 1885; commissioner of public parks,
New York City, 1897.
590
I do wish I could lay before Senator Platt what seems to me to be the
important feature of the situation in the Police Board now. Commissioners
come and go, but the Chief stays, and the Chief is far more important than
any Commissioner. The Senator would find it far more to the benefit of the
organization to get the right man for Chief than to get anything else; and
he could get that man now in the shape of Acting Inspector McCullagh, if
he could be made Chief.
Conlin is utterly weak and treacherous; he is a Democrat; he is even now
dealing with Tammany; and he will turn on the Platt people the minute
he or Parker think it advantageous to do it. McCullagh is an organization
Republican; he is a strong, brave and discreet and able man; he is far and
away the best man for Chief; he is already a follower of Senator Platt; and
he is a man who never forgets a friend, and never loses heart or abandons
the side which he has championed. He would "stay put!"
To Lauterbach or Hackett I would not dare to praise McCullagh, be-
cause they would think I had some personal end in view; but I believe Sen-
ator Platt would know I had none, save to help the Force, and also the party.
McCullagh would make the best Chief the Force could have; and he is the
only man in the Force who when Chief would surely remain a Republican
in foul as well as fair weather; and he is an organization Republican at that.
At last I now have Andrews for him; should Grant favor him, and let Con-
lin get out, the whole difficulty in the police board would be solved and I
think solved in just the way Senator Platt would wish. Yowrs
697 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed*
New York, March 30, 1897
Dear Cabot, As I expected, my inquiries resulted in my being called before
the Mayor, with whom, however, I am bound to say, I had the pleasantest
interview I have yet had. He told me that Bliss had recently spoken to him
about my going, and that he hated to have me, but that "he knew I was in
hell" and he would take the utmost pleasure in writing to McKinley on my
behalf. As to my successor, he said about what I told you yesterday. He has
no idea himself who it would be, or who would take it; but it must be
some one who will work as I have worked, and who will be steadfast against
Parker, Grant and Conlin.
In this he is quite right. A decent man like Olcott the Mayor would
gladly appoint; but Olcott hates and distrusts Parker and Conlin as much
as I do; being an honest District Attorney he speedily found them out; and
he told me he had nearly quarreled with Platt on the subject, telling him
that it was incomprehensible to him how the machine could support that
pair of scoundrels in their effort to ruin the police department. You see
the whole trouble comes from this attitude of the machine leaders. For
1 Lodge, 1,265-266.
591
the last year Parker's whole strength has been due to his deal with the ma-
chine; and Platt acquiesces in it; this is all that gives Parker his power for
evil; and the machine, with a shamelessness rather worse than Tammany's,
seeks its profit out of the mischief he makes. Lauterbach, Lexow, and the
other machine leaders are now moving heaven and earth to prevent the
Governor from removing Parker. Every decent man in the machine wishes
him removed; but the fundamental difficulty with the New York machine
at this moment is that the great majority of its leaders are not decent, and
their quarrel with me is because I am. I wish you would show this to Tom
Reed.
I feel this is rather a gloomy note to have to write you; but of course
I simply cannot try to have chosen as my successor the kind of man who,
I fear, would alone be acceptable to Platt; and if I did try it would do worse
than no good.
McCook was most pleasant. I feel like a heavy lump of dough to be so
unable to help you while you are making such an extraordinary fight for
me. Yours
698 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
New York, April 8, 1897
Dear Cabot: That was not only a lie, but an exceptionally mean lie.2 One of
the editors of the Journal travelled with me to Chicago, having been intro-
duced to me as the cousin of Dr. Lyman Abbott;8 I was cordial to him,
but of course, said nothing whatever that he could quote against me. Two
weeks later he gave out an alleged statement by me in the first person, but
carefully refrained from giving himself as authority, until I publicly taxed
him. The statement was of course an absolute lie. Any one who has ever
heard me speak knows that I am quite incapable of using such expressions
as "meeting Altgeld sword in hand at the head of my regiment" and, "stand-
ing up the silver leaders against a wall to be shot."
I wish you would drop me a line to tell me what effect that lie has.
As soon as it was published I denied it in the most explicit terms; among
other places, in the Sim of October 3ist.
I am just on my way up to see Nannie. Always yours
1 Lodge, I, 266.
•This refers to an incident of the previous autumn. Willis J. Abbot, an editor of the
New York Journal, had a conversation, in October 1896, with Roosevelt about the
coming election. As reported in the Journal on October 28, Roosevelt in speaking
of Altgeld used the words he quotes in this letter together with lurid references to
the Paris Commune. Abbot maintained always that his memory of the conversation
was accurately reported in his paper. Roosevelt, on his part, maintained that the
whole account was "a tissue of lies."
8 Lyman Abbott, Congregational clergyman, editor of the Outlook, author of religious
books and of a biography of his close friend, Henry Ward Beecher, was a friend and
editorial supporter of Roosevelt.
592
699 ' T0 ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES Cobles MSS.°
New York, April 1 1, 1897
Darling Bye, This is probably the last letter I shall write you; and your
cable, which it was so sweet of you to send, shows that you know the
news. I was even more pleased than I was astonished at the appointment;
for I had come to look upon it as very improbable. McKinley rather dis-
trusted me, and Platt actively hated me; it was Cabot's untiring energy and
devotion which put me in; and Long really wanted me. Of course until next
Wednsday the Senate, where I have very bitter enemies, may reconsider the
confirmation; but there is only a very small chance of this.
One crumpled rose leaf is that it is going to prevent my meeting you.
On May ist, and just around it, there will be so much to do that it would
be wrong for me at once to bolt away from Sec'y Long. I hate not meeting
you, Bye; it is only the sheer impossibility that prevents me.
Now the Lodges and we ourselves are hoping you'll live at Washington
next winter!
Will is off on the Fern, and has just written me an enthusiastic letter of
congratulation. He is such a good fellow! The children adopted him at once
in the most matter-of-course manner. Yours always
700 • TO HENRY WHITE - Henry White Mss.Q
New York, April 16, 1897
Dear White, We were very much touched at the cable from Mrs. White
and yourself. As soon as I received the news of my appointment I thought
of you, and knew you would be pleased. Of course it was Lodge who engi-
neered it, at the end as at the beginning; working with his usual untiring
loyalty and energy. Platt did his best to defeat me; and Gorman, with the
help of of the Populists, came near causing serious trouble in the Senate.
However, I went through; and without making a promise, or even a request,
of any kind, save to ask Olcott and Doty to vouch for my efficiency &c,
as you know. I am very glad to get out of this place; for I have done all
that could be done, and now the situation has become literally intolerable.
I do not object to any amount of work and worry, where I have a fair
chance to win or lose on my merits; but here, at the last, I was playing
against stacked cards. Now that I am going, all the good people are utterly
cast down, and can not say enough of my virtues!
McKinley is doing well; Congress much less well, chiefly because we
just fail of a majority in the Senate. The late municipal elections have gone
heavily against us, and here in New York the Republican machine is be-
having as if even more crazy than wicked. But we had to expect some
swing of the pendulum; and we can stand disaster this year, if we can re-
cover ourselves next year — or even later.
593
How has that — well, old goose, let us say, to be diplomatic — Bayard,
been behaving? Has he justified Hay's worst forebodings? Give our warm
regards to Mrs. White. I go to Washington tomorrow, and shall be there
pretty steadily this summer. Faithfully yours
7OI 'TO WILLIAM LAFAYETTE STRONG Printed1
New York, April 17, 1897
My Dear Mr. Mayor: I herewith tender you my resignation, to take effect
on April 19, in accordance with our understanding.
I wish to take this opportunity, sir, to thank you for appointing me and
to express my very deep appreciation of your attitude toward me and toward
the force, the direction of which you in part entrusted to my care. We have
been very intimately associated with your work, and I know, "as all men
who have been associated with you do know, the devotion with which you
have given all of your time and all of your efforts to the betterment of our
civic conditions and the single-mindedness with which at every crisis you
have sought merely the good of the city. I have been able to work so zeal-
ously under you because you have never required of me anything but loyal
service to what you conceived to be the best interest of New York city,
and I well know that had I followed any other course it would have met
with instant and sharp rebuke from you. I know also the almost incredible
difficulties with which you have been surrounded and the impossibility of
your acting so as to please every one. Nevertheless I firmly believe that
people are now realizing that you have given us far and away the best ad-
ministration which this city has ever had. In this Department we, as well as
you, have been hampered by unwise legislation, and the so-called Bipartisan
law, under which the Department itself is administered, is of such absurdly
foolish character that it has been impossible to achieve the results which
would have been achieved had you had your hands free with reference to
your appointees, and had your appointees in turn possessed full and proper
power over the force.
Nevertheless, very much has been accomplished. For the first time the
police force has been administered without regard to politics and with an
honest and resolute purpose to enforce the laws equitably and to show
favor to no man. The old system of blackmail and corruption has been al-
most entirely broken up; we have greatly improved the standard of disci-
pline; we have preserved complete order, and we have warred against crime
and vice more effectively than ever before. The fact that we have come
short in any measure is due simply to the folly of the law which deprives
us of the full measure of power over our subordinates, which could alone
guarantee the best results. We have administered the Civil Service law in
spirit and in letter so as to show that there is not the slightest excuse for
1 New York Sun, April 17, 1897.
594
wishing to get rid of it, or for claiming that it does not produce the best
possible results when honestly enforced. About two-fifths of the patrolmen
have been appointed by us under the operation of the Civil Service law
and they make the best body of recruits that have ever come into the
service.
This is about four times the number of appointments that have ever
before been made in the same period; and we have also made many more
promotions. In promotions and appointments alike we have disregarded
wholly all considerations of political or religious creed; we have treated all
men alike on their merits, rewarding the good and punishing the bad with-
out reference to outside considerations. This was the course followed so
long as the Board had control over all promotions; and it has been followed
in the promotions actually made. I have joined with Commissioner Andrews
in refusing to take part in any effort to promote men or appoint them
on other terms. I cannot resist expressing my appreciation of the high-
mindedness, disinterested courage and fidelity to duty which Commissioner
Andrews has brought to the performance of every official action.
During my term of service we have striven especially to make the police
force not only the terror of the burglar, the rioter, the tough, the law-
breaker and criminal of every kind, but also the ready ally of every move-
ment for good. One of my pleasantest experiences has been working with
all men, rich and poor, priests and laymen, Catholics and Protestants, Jews
and Gentiles, who are striving to make our civic conditions better, who are
striving to raise the standard of living, of morality and of comfort among
our less fortunate brethren. We have endeavored to make all men and all
societies engaged in such work feel that the police were their natural allies.
We have endeavored to make the average private citizen feel that the officer
of the law was to be dreaded only by the law-breaker and was ever ready
to treat with courtesy and to befriend any one who needed his aid.
The man in the ranks, the man with the night stick, has been quick to
respond to all efforts, quick to recognize honesty of purpose in his superiors.
You have in the police force a body of admirable men, brave, able and zeal-
ous; under proper leadership they can at any time be depended upon to do
the best possible work. I have bitterly regretted that the law under which
the force is administered is so bad that it has been impossible to make of
this splendid body of men all that could be made if the Board had one re-
sponsible head, with complete power and absolute singleness of purpose to
do right.
Again thanking you for having appointed me, and for your treatment
of me during my term of service, I am, with much gratitude2
* Roosevelt assessed the police force, and his work as commissioner, at greater length
in his Autobiography, Nat. Ed. XX, ch. vi, and in several addresses and articles, pub-
lished in Campaigns and Controversies, Nat. Ed. XIV, 181-238, and American Ideals,
Nat. Ed. Xffl, 118-138. No adequate study of his service as police commissioner
exists. Riis wrote as a sympathetic friend; Steffens as a skillful but careless impression-
595
702 -TO JACOB AUGUST MIS Roosevelt Mss.°
New York, April 18, 1897
Dear Mr. Riis, I shall always keep your letter, to show to my children, as
that of the most loyal and disinterested man I ever knew; and I can not tell
you highly I prize what you say of me. For these two years you have been
my main prop and comfort. May the Unseen and Unknown Powers be ever
with you and yours!
Give our love to Mrs. Riis; and let me hear from you now and then, if
only to tell me how your boy likes the west. Faithfully yours
ist. Hurwitz restricted his analysis to the field of labor relations. Pringle relied on the
accounts of contemporary newspaper reporters whose eyes naturally fell, in the
search for good copy, upon the more sensational events of the commissioner's career.
Most assessments begin, as many of them end, with the charge that Roosevelt
rather dramatically violated most of the canons of discreet official conduct. This is
certainly true.
The political situation, from the beginning, placed Roosevelt in a difficult position.
As an administrator he could rely on no unified or continuing political support even
from his own party. Republican politics confused the New York scene. Platt favored
Morton; Strong, McKinley; and Roosevelt, Reed as Presidential candidates in 1896.
The divergent national objectives of these men produced, frequently, divided coun-
sels locally. Furthermore, the Fusion government of Strong was under attack from
two other outside forces. Tammany used its traditional methods to hamper the
administration, while the Good Government Clubs criticized it because it failed to
act at all rimes with the political purity of the Goo-Goo.
Even more imposing obstacles in the way of effective administration were the
institutional defects of the police force. Division of authority among the commis-
sioners and their joint lack of control over the chief of police posed a formidable
administrative problem. A weaker man than Roosevelt would, in these circumstances,
have accomplished nothing. A more cautious man would have been far more solic-
itous of the political equilibrium. Roosevelt brought a rather violent honesty and
relative efficiency to the direction of the department. The men he chose as leaders
in the force proved competent organizers. On the whole, within the limitations im-
posed by the situation, Roosevelt introduced a needed measure of honest civilian
direction in the Police Department. These contributions, coming as they did after
the revelations of the Lexow Committee in 1894, did much to restore public confi-
dence in New York's Finest.
596
The Department of the Navy
1897—1898
703 'TO BOWMAN HENDRY MC CALLA RoOSCVClt M.SS.
Washington, April 19, 1897
My dear Captain: 1 1 have received your very kind letter of the 7th instant,
and wish to thank you most heartily for the cordial words of congratulation
it contains.
I have assumed my new duties today, and although I am as yet unfamiliar
with the details, I believe that my surroundings here will be most pleasant.
As you know, I have always taken a great interest in the Navy, and I sin-
cerely hope that my connection with the service will be as beneficial to it
as it will certainly be to me.
Mrs. Roosevelt joins me in thanking Mrs. McCalla and yourself for your
expressions of good wishes. Very truly yours
704 • TO WILLIAM E. MANTIUS RoOSCVelt
Washington, April 20, 1897
My dear Sir: x I thank you heartily for your kind letter. I am glad to be in
a position where I can do work of which I am genuinely fond, but I guess
this will be the last position of importance I will ever hold under the gov-
ernment. Faithfzdly yours
705 • TO HUGH SMITH THOMPSON Roosevelt
Washington, April 20, 1897
My dear Governor: I was awfully sorry to miss you. There is no one I was
more anxious to see and say good bye to than you. Lodge, Jacob Riis and
Proctor are the three men who, in my judgment, share your pedestal. I am
sure you sympathized with my coming here. I have about done all I could
in New York. Faithfully yowrs
706 • TO WILLIAM A. FITCH Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 20, 1897
My dear Sir: Your letter gratified me very much. I have always hoped that
some day I should see you and not have to conduct my acquaintance with
you purely by writing.
I am really pleased at what you say about my work in New York. I did
meet with immeasurable success, in spite of all the trouble I encountered,
1 Bowman Hendry McCalla, Commander U.S.N., kter Rear Admiral, served in both
the Spanish-American War and the Boxer Rebellion, in which he was severely
wounded. He was one of the most influential and distinguished officers of his gen-
eration.
1 William E. Mantius, United States Consul at Turin, Italy.
599
and there is one thing I want to say to you, that I never for one instant
wavered in my purpose of administering the Department wholly regardless
of political considerations. There was not a democrat under me who did not
know that I would treat him precisely as I treated the republicans. Of
course, as you know, I cannot now express myself fully as to the tariff and
other matters. I have got to keep myself strictly to my own duties!
I most earnestly hope that the civil service law will be observed both
in spirit and letter. I wish I could have shown you how rigidly we lived up
to it in the Police Department in New York, and how excellent the results
were. We appointed about 1,700 men and I think about 1,000 were demo-
crats. (Quite a number southerners, by the way.) Faithfully yours
707 • TO WILLIAM PETERFIELD TRENT Roosevelt
Washington, April 20, 1897
My dear Trent: I have now finished your book,1 and I want to tell you,
though I fear I cannot adequately tell you, how greatly I admire it, and how
much I admire you for having written it. I can say in all sincerity that the
compliment of having such a book dedicated to me is more than almost any-
thing else could be.
I appreciate very highly the courage needed to write it — a great deal
more courage than I have had to display in my political work, and I say this
without in the least intending to admit that I haven't had to display a good
deal of courage, too. Moreover, I admire so much the absolute fair-minded-
ness and the insight shown. You have certainly converted me, both about
Jefferson and about Jefferson Davis. I don't know that I entirely accept your
views, but I come a great deal nearer to them than I did to the views I for-
merly myself held. What I chiefly object to in Jefferson is his utter ineffi-
ciency as an executive officer in the face of a foreign foe. I feel that he and
Madison had a good deal to their discredit in connection with the War of
1812.
By the way, what was it that the ladies of Nashville objected to so vio-
lently with reference to my Winning of the West, and my description
therein of Gen. Sevier.2 I rather thought I had done the square thing by old
Sevier and his horse riflemen. Surely they couldn't expect me to paint those
tough old pioneers, with the iron faults of the border, as if they had been a
cross between a grand gentleman of the court of Louis XIV and a nineteenth
century philanthropist.
1 William Peterfield Trent, Southern Statesmen of the Old Regime; Washington, Jef-
ferson, Randolph, Calhoun, Stephens, Toombs, and Jefferson Davis (New York,
1897).
"The Nashville kdies apparently had in mind the murder of the old Indian chief,
Corn Tassel, of which Roosevelt said: "There is no blinking the fact that in this in-
stance Sevier and his followers stood on the same level of brutality with 'keen Lord
Evers,' and on the same level of treachery with the 'assured* Scots at the battle of
Ancram Muir."
600
Somehow, now that I am in Washington I feel you are a little nearer, and
as though there was more chance of seeing you. I hope this will prove true.
With warm regards from Mrs. Roosevelt to both you and Mrs. Trent,
in which I heartily join, believe me, Faithfully yours
708 • TO WILLIAM MCKINLEY RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, April 22, 1897
To the President: In view of the despatch by the Japanese of their protected
cruiser Naniiva to Hawaii, I would like to inform you as to the vessels at
Hawaii and those which could be sent there.1 There are at Hawaii now the
protected cruiser Philadelphia, which is of just about the strength of the
Naniiva, but as her bottom is foul she is probably not quite so swift; and,
moreover, she has no torpedoes, while the Japanese vessel has. There is also
an old boat — the Marion — armed mostly with smooth bore muzzle load-
ers, and quite unfit for conflict with any modern warship. The Japanese
Navy is an efficient fighting navy.
The gunboat Eennington is now on its way to San Francisco, and could
shortly be sent out to replace the Marion. She is a small vessel about half
the strength of either the Naniwa or Philadelphia, but an efficient fighting
machine. As she has been cruising for some time it would not be well to
send her unless necessary. The Baltimore and Charleston, two modern pro-
tected cruisers of good type, are repairing at Mare Island, as is the Concord,
a gunboat of the Eennington type. If need be the big monitor Monterey
could be sent out, but it would be a long voyage for her, and probably a
coaling vessel would have to accompany her.
Within two weeks the battleship Oregon could be sent to Hawaii. Her
commander is thoroughly acquainted with the harbor and the island, and
the chart shows that there is enough water in the harbor for the Oregon.
She would be an overmatch for half the entire Japanese Navy, although
they have two battleships of the same class now on the point of comple-
tion.2 Very respectfully
1 The growing interest of the United States in the annexation of Hawaii had aroused
the Japanese. Since 1893, Hawaii had been a republic dominated by American immi-
grants. A clause in its constitution authorized the president to conclude a treaty of
union with the United States whenever possible. Cleveland, opposed to all expansion,
had refused to allow consideration of a treaty. Public opinion in the United States,
however, led by such men as Lodge and Mahan, was, by 1896, well prepared for
annexation. McKinley as soon as he took office started negotiations with Hawaii.
Japan, fresh from her triumph over China in 1896, protested McKinley's action in
vigorous terms, expressing her disapproval in part by sending the Naniwa Kan to the
Islands. Her real fear was that as a result of annexation the 25,000 Japanese residents
in Hawaii would lose the treaty rights previously agreed upon by Hawaii and Japan.
Following assurance that the rights would be respected, Japan withdrew her opposi-
tion. Annexation was finally noted in a Joint Resolution of Congress on July 7, 1898.
*For discussions of the size, character and disposition of the fleet in 1897, see John
D. Long, The New American Navy (New York, 1003), vol. I, ch. ii; Harold and
Margaret Sprout, The Rise of American Naval Power (Princeton, N. Jn 1939), ch.
xiii; Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy (Washington, 1897).
601
709 ' TO WILLIAM MCKINLEY RoOSCVelt
Washington, April 26, 1897
To the President: It seems to me inadvisable to send a battleship to the Medi-
terranean unless we intend to make a demonstration in force, in which case
we should send certainly three or four armored vessels, and not one.1 At
the moment the only ist-class battleship which could be sent to the Mediter-
ranean is the Indiana, and as she rolls heavily in a sea-way it would not be
advisable to send her, unless absolutely necessary, until she has bilge keels
fitted. The Massachusetts is having them fitted. She will be ready in June.
The Iowa could be pressed into the service at that date were there an emer-
gency. The armored cruiser Brooklyn could be sent off now, but she will
not be in entirely good shape until about the first of June. The znd-class
battleship Texas needs repairs, and should not be sent from our coast un-
less necessary. The Maine is only a znd-class battleship. If any additional
ships are sent to the Mediterranean, therefore, I should advise that they be
either New York or the Columbia. The Columbia was to have been laid up.
She is the one of our cruisers that could best be spared. The New York
is a powerful armored cruiser, although less powerful than the Brooklyn,
but unless we intend to send a formidable fighting squadron to Turkish
waters the Columbia could do about as much as the New York in the way
of protecting the missionaries, and keeping in check mob outbreaks; while
to fight the Turks, even if such a plan were entertained, it would be useless
to send out less than a formidable squadron.
If there is need of another cruiser in the Mediterranean I should suggest
either that the Columbia be sent there, and not laid up, or that the Brooklyn,
after going to the Queen's jubilee, be sent there.
We should keep the battleships on our own coast, and in readiness for
action should any complications arise in Cuba. The Massachusetts will have
her bilge keels and be all ready early in June. The Indiana should then be
put in dock and have bilge keels fitted. The Texas also needs various repairs.
The Maine is in good condition. The New York is in good condition.
Neither of them is fit to oppose a ist-class battleship such as the Spanish
Pelayo. The Iowa will be in commission early in June, but it will probably
take a month before all her weak points are discovered and remedied, even
after she has gone into commission.
In other words if the Columbia or Brooklyn, or both of them, are sent
to the eastern Mediterranean we should have on our shores available for
action in the event of trouble in Cuba, three ist-class battleships, the Mas-
sachusetts, Indiana and Iowa, two znd-class battleships, the Texas and Maine,
and one armored cruiser, the New York. After June i, the Massachusetts,
1 The unsettled conditions caused by rebellions within the Ottoman Empire, and by
the Greek-Turkish War (April-December, 1897) moved the United States to send
the San Francisco, the Raleigh, and the Bancroft to the Eastern Mediterranean to
"protect American interests."
602
Maine and New York will be available at any time. The Indiana will be in
dock having her bilge keels fitted. This would probably mean that she would
not be available until early in August. The Texas also needs repairs, although
such repairs would probably not keep her as long, but at present she is not
in trustworthy shape. The Iowa could be used at once, but until a month
was past would be liable to break down on one point or another. It does
not seem to me that we could afford to lay up any of these ships. Even
docking and repairing them as needed would make it impossible to call upon
more than four at twenty-four hours' notice, and all these four would cer-
tainly be useful in the event of any trouble over Cuba. We could not
afford to do with less, and we should have to do with less if any one of
the armored battleships or cruisers were laid up.
In addition to the above we have the four monitors, of which three, the
Amphitrite, the Terror and the Puritan, are in commission, and even if laid
up could be made ready very soon. The Miantonomoh is now at League
Island, and probably it would be a moriSrbefore she could be put in fight-
ing trim. If these monitors are laid up it is probable that until by actual test,
and the scheme perfected it would mean at least three weeks before they
could be put in commission, and in consequence they would not be avail-
able for any sudden crisis.
In other words if the Brooklyn is allowed to go to the eastern Mediter-
ranean we shall have on the coast available for any crisis in Cuba four ar-
mored vessels instantly ready. There would be four more which could be
turned in, in say three weeks, and two which might need a longer time.
Should, however, there be warning given in advance the entire ten could be
ready at any time during the summer. Very respectfully
P. S. The Cincinnati, though under orders to return when relieved by the
Raleigh, could be detained on the station if necessary.
7 I O • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG RoOSCVelt
Washington, April 26, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: x I was much pleased at receiving your note this
morning. All right, I will look into the matter at once and give you the
results of my investigation, to aid you in your decision when you come on.
I went on to New York after finishing my morning's work on Saturday
1 John Davis Long, Secretary of the Navy, was a Boston lawyer and politician. Rising
through various state offices, he became Governor of Massachusetts, 1880-1883. Six
years in Congress followed, after which he returned to the practice of law. Appointed
' the Navy in 1897, he served until his resignation in 1902. A tranquil,
unimaginative man, he was an unexciting, but competent public official. His mild
impulses for reform, which led him to approve prohibition, woman's suffrage, and
the abolition of the death penalty, were never in evidence in the Navy Department.
Without fully understanding the Navy, he labored with patience and tact to main-
tain the status quo in an organization that needed change.
603
and came back yesterday afternoon, and I wasn't easy a single hour I was
away, and never again shall I leave this city when you are not here, unless
you expressly order me to. I told Mrs. Roosevelt that I guessed I should
have to give up even the thing I care for most — seeing her and the children
at all until next fall when they come on here; this because I don't wish again
to be away when there is the slightest chance that anything may turn up.
By the way, remember that I don't need any thirty or even twenty days'
holiday.
I shall have made out against your and the President's return a full list
of the ships which are now available to be sent to the East, and what one
or two could be sent, which would be a formidable force, and yet leave
a force which would be available at twenty-four hours' notice in the event
of things in Cuba taking an unexpected turn. I do this in obedience to a
request made to me by the President this morning. Very sincerely yours
711 -TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE Roosevelt
Washington, April 28, 1897
Dear Cecil: Why haven't you written me in answer to my last letter, or at
any rate, answered Mrs. Roosevelt's? "Are you mad" about the arbitration
treaty? Or have you been misled by Smalley's wails in the London Times
over my supposititious jingoism? Or didn't you like the review of Brooks
Adams' book in the Forum which I sent you? Oh, Springie, Springie! I fear
you are forgetting your barbarian friends on this side of the water.
I called on the dear Pauncefotes yesterday, and bewailed your infidelity.
As you will see by the heading of this letter, I am now Assistant Secretary
of the Navy. Cabot Lodge plus Proctor & a few others got me in, though the
New York machine vigorously opposed me. My chief, Secretary Long, is a
perfect dear, and I think his views of foreign policy would entirely meet
your approval. I see a good deal of Proctor, who is a trump, as ever. I am
staying with the Lodges. Mrs. Lodge looks so well. All this winter I have
seen a great deal of Bob. I am now mourning the fact that during this sum-
mer I shall hardly be at all with Mrs. Roosevelt and the children, but I
greatly enjoy the work here. During my two years as police commissioner I
think I may say I accomplished a great deal, but gradually things have so
shaped themselves that I couldn't do anything more.
Goodbye; and do come here and see us sometime. Always yours
7 I 2 • TO JOSEPH LINCOLN STEFFENS Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, April 28, 1897
Dear Mr. Steffens: In writing to you today I forgot to say how particularly
pleased I was at what you tell me of the attitude of the police towards me.
That more than compensates for my two years' work. As you know, I really
604
got to like them. I wanted to try and make them honest, and brave, and to
show I appreciated them when they were such. I am going to do what I can
for the man behind the gun now, just as I used to do for the man with the
night stick. Faithfully yours
713 -TO HERMANN SPECK VON STERNBERG Roosevelt
Washington, April 28, 1897
My dear Sternberg: Yesterday, to my great concern, I learned for the first
time, through Miss Pauncef ote, of your sickness. I am very sorry indeed, but
am glad to hear that the latest news was that you were getting better. I only
wish you would come over here for your health. I am sure you know how
warmly your American friends would greet you.
Two or three months ago I sent you a letter containing a report by
Sergeant Petty of the pistol practice with the new police revolver. I am
afraid you may not have gotten it, as I fear you had left your post on account
of your sickness before the letter got over there.
As you see, I am now back in Washington, as Assistant Secretary of the
Navy. I had done about all I could do with the New York Police Force, and
as you know I am immensely interested in the Navy. I earnestly wish I could
see you and have a long talk over various matters, especially about your new
battleships. I don't know whether your quick-fire guns are behind armor or
not. Personally, I regret that in our latest ships we have discarded the 8-inch
guns. I see you have reduced the calibres of your large guns on the ist-class
battleships. I suppose the fact of it is that only the final test of war will really
settle the comparative merits of the different types, and even then we shall
have to make allowance for the comparative merits of the men who handle
the different types. No perfection of material will atone for shortcomings in
the personnel.
I am now staying with Senator Lodge. Spring here in Washington is as
beautiful as ever. I only wish you were here to take a run through the
country. Faithfully yours
714 • TO FRANK MOSS RoOSCVelt
Washington, April 28, 1897
My dear Mr. Moss: * Just a line to say how delighted I am with the way you
have begun your work. I hope you won't think it presuming of me to tell
you that I feel as if you and I occupied precisely the same position, and had
the same methods and purposes in handling the Police Department. You can
hardly imagine the relief I felt when you were appointed.
I was much amused to learn from various sources of the extreme anxiety
1 Frank Moss, Roosevelt's successor as president of the Police Commission, had
been counsel for the Parkhurst Society.
605
the old corrupt gang felt at your advent. Parker will try to trick you, of
course, and will exert all his suavity and plausibility to that end. As for Grant
he has made an exhibition of himself already of a kind that needs no com-
ment. Good luck & keep up the fight! Faithfully yours
7 I 5 • TO HAMLIN GARLAND RoOSCVelt Ms*.
Washington, April 30, 1897
My dear Mr. Garland: I am not in my own house, but am staying with my
great friend Senator Lodge, and lunch every day with his brother-in-law
Brooks Adams, a free silver man of great sympathy with yourself. Now,
will you tomorrow come with me to lunch at Brooks Adams? Be here in the
office at quarter past one. And will you on Monday next dine at Senator
Lodge's, 1765 Massachusetts Avenue at quarter of eight? Be sure you don't
fail me at either place, for both of them are men you ought to know. Please
answer by bearer. Faithfully yours
7 I 6 ' TO HENRY WHITE RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, April 30, 1897
My dear White: Just a line to tell you I am all settled and that I received
your letter. As I told you before, both Mrs. Roosevelt and I were really very
much touched at the cable from Mrs. White and yourself. I think you know
how fond we have grown of you both during die last three years. I only
wish that somehow or other you could at the same time be in your present
place and also over in Washington. However, you may have one awful
affliction in store for you; for a couple of years hence, if I get the chance,
I want to visit Engknd to look into some of their naval matters. If possible
I shall time my visit so as to have it on some occasion when Lodge is going
abroad.
By the way, I am staying at the Lodge's now, and of course having a
delightful time.
I was much amused at Smalley's putting in the London Times a wail over
my supposed jingoism. I wish to Heaven we were more jingo about Cuba
and Hawaii! The trouble with our nation is that we incline to fall into mere
animal sloth and ease, and tend to venture too little instead of too much.
Faithfully yours
7 1 7 • TO FRANCIS CABOT LOWELL Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, April 30, 1897
Dear Frank: Couldn't we get an LL. D. awarded to the outgoing Assistant
Secretary of State Rockhill? * He was Olney's righthand man, and has been
1 Lowell was a member of the Harvard Corporation.
606
the best Assistant Secretary of State we have ever had, and he is one of the
two or three explorers of Tibet in its least known and uttermost portions.
He was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society of Lon-
don. In every way he is a man whom Harvard should honor. Faithfully
yours
7 I 8 • TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN RoOSCVelt
Personal and Private Washington, May 3, 1897
My dear Captain Mohan: This letter must, of course, be considered as en- .
tirely confidential, because in my position I am merely carrying out the
policy of the Secretary and the President, I suppose I need not tell you that
as regards Hawaii I take your views absolutely, as indeed I do on foreign
policy generally. If I had my way we would annex those islands tomorrow.
If that is impossible I would establish a protectorate over them. I believe we
should build the Nicaraguan canal at once, and in the meantime that we
should build a dozen new battleships, half of them on the Pacific Coast; and
these battleships should have large coal capacity and a consequent increased
radius of action. I am fully alive to the danger from Japan, and I know that
it is idle to rely on any sentimental good will towards us. I think President
Cleveland's action was a colossal crime, and we should be guilty of aiding
him after the fact if we do not reverse what he did. I earnestly hope we can
make the President look at things our way. Last Saturday night Lodge
pressed his views upon him with all his strength. I have been getting matters
in shape on the Pacific coast just as fast as I have been allowed. My own be-
lief is that we should act instantly before the two new Japanese warships
leave England. I would send the Oregon, and, if necessary, also the Monterey
(either with a deck load of coal or accompanied by a coaling ship) to Hawaii,
and would hoist our flag over the island, leaving all details for after action.
I shall press these views upon my chief just so far as he will let me; more I
cannot do.
As regards what you say in your letter, there is only one point to which
I would take exception. I fully realize the immense importance of the Pacific
coast. Strictly between ourselves, I do not think Admiral Beardslee quite the
man for the situation out there, but Captain Barker, of the Oregon^ is, I be-
lieve, excellent in point of decisions, willingness to accept responsibility, and
thorough knowledge of the situation. But there are big problems in the West
Indies also. Until we definitely turn Spain out of those islands (and if I had
my way that would be done tomorrow), we will always be menaced by
trouble there. We should acquire the Danish Islands, and by turning Spain
out should serve notice that no strong European power, and especially not
Germany, should be allowed to gain a foothold by supplanting some weak
European power. I do not fear England; Canada, is a hostage for her good
behavior; but I do fear some of the other powers. I am extremely sorry to
607
say that there is some slight appearance here of the desire to stop building
up the Navy until our finances are better. Tom Reed, to my astonishment
and indignation, takes this view, and even my chief, who is one of the most
high-minded, honorable and upright gentlemen I have ever had the good
fortune to serve under, is a little inclined toward it.
I need not say that this letter must be strictly private. I speak to you with
the greatest freedom, for I sympathize with your views, and I have precisely
the same idea of patriotism, and of belief in and love for our country. But to
no one else excepting Lodge do I talk like this.
As regards Hawaii I am delighted to be able to tell you that Secretary
Long shares our views. He believes we should take the islands, and I have
just been preparing some memoranda for him to use at the Cabinet meeting
tomorrow. If only we had some good man in the place of John Sherman as
Secretary of State there would not be a hitch,1 and even as it is I hope for
favorable action. I have been pressing upon the Secretary, and through him
on the President, that we ought to act now without delay, before Japan
gets her two new battleships which are now ready for delivery to her in
England. Even a fortnight may make a difference. With Hawaii once in our
hands most of the danger of friction with Japan would disappear.
The Secretary also believes in building the Nicaraguan canal as a military
measure, although I don't know that he is as decided on this point as you and
I are; and he believes in building battleships on the Pacific slope. Faithfully
yours
7 1 9 • TO JOHN HAY R&osevelt Mss.
Washington, May 3, 1897
My dear Mr. Ambassador: Even without your letter I should have done, and
as a matter of fact did, all I could for Paul Dashiell,1 but I am sorry to say
I failed. He is just the man who should have been given the position. He puts
ginger into those boys in every way, morally, mentally and physically, and
I fought for him as hard as I knew how; but the President and Secretary
Long thought there should be an astronomer in the place, and all that I
could say amounted to nothing. I am very sorry. I have been battling for
Rockhill also.
We have been watching your doings in the papers with great interest.
The Delaware Lorelei2 seems to have kept up his zeal to the very end, albeit
his voice grew a trifle raucous. I see that, with a splendid lack of sense of the
1John Sherman, Ohio Republican, was prominent in Washington as representative,
Cabinet member, and senator for almost half a century. In spite of his age and fail-
ing powers, McKinley appointed him Secretary of State in 1897 to make room for
Hanna in the Senate. Important matters in the Department were left to subordinates.
An anti-imperialist, Sherman resigned when the Cabinet decided for war with Spain.
1 Paul Dashiell, professor of physics at the United States Naval Academy.
* Thomas Francis Bayard.
608
&
8
2
3
.8
'If you are afraid of hard work and privation, don't come out West."
fitness of things, he kept a tight grip on the log of the Mayflower. Really
his conduct has been most extraordinary. However, it is a fitting climax to his
career as Ambassador, after all.
I am glad to hear you had such a pleasant voyage. I feel dreadfully blue
over the way Washington is deserted. To have you and Mrs. Cameron and
Herodotus Adams, and the Endicotts and the Rockhills all going, is pretty
melancholy. I am staying with the Lodges, and Mistress Nannie is as charm-
ing as I have ever seen her, and in excellent spirits. She has had great fun
recently with the amiable Walter Berry, whom we have christened "the ball
of worsted," because he is such a nice thing for a kitten to play with. The
suggestion implied in the name made Cabot a little suspicious at first, but
not for long, as he now rates the good Walter at his proper level of harm-
lessness. P. S. This should be merely for family information.
I lunch almost every day with Adams not Herodotus. He is having a
delightful time here, and simply revelling in gloom over the appalling social
and civic disasters which he sees impending.
I was of course astonished at the engagement between Chandler Hale8
and Rachel Cameron.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Hay and all of my friends. I must close,
as I am expecting Cabot for a walk, and Cabot is not a man who has patience
with such a trifling detail as correspondence when the time has come for
exercise. Faithfully yours
72O • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MSS.°
Washington, May 7, 1897
Darling Bye, Will's letters are always welcome; really so; I am going to
rely much on his judgement about many matters in the department, and of
course he ought to write me on any and every point which comes up; and
as for writing on behalf of various persons, why he must do so without the
slightest hesitation. I should have scant patience with him if he did'n't. He
knows I can do very little; for I have to be very careful not to let the Sec'y
think I am presuming on my position or interfering with him.
When I do get back, if ever, for a day or two at Sagamore, can't you get
out for at least a day? When will you get out for good? I have not enjoyed
any work as much as this for years; but I do miss Edith and the children and
Sagamore dreadfully! Love to Will. Yours always
721 -TO RICHARD HENRY DANA RoOSCVelt
Washington, May 8, 1897
My dear Dana: What you say about the conning tower on the Iowa is im-
portant, and I shall look it up at once. All the points raised about the double
'Chandler Hale, son of Senator Eugene Hale of Maine; diplomat, later Third
Assistant Secretary of State.
609
turrets have been gone over and over and over by experts in this Department
for the last three years.1 Lord Brassey2 has dwelt on the same points, as you
doubtless know. Personally, I think there are stronger objections, on which
you have not touched, and I do not myself at all like the superimposed
turrets, but the Department has decided the other way and I am bound to
say that the man who is primarily responsible for them, Captain Sampson,8
is one of the best officers in our service, who is himself about to take com-
mand of the Iowa, and whose judgment I would as a rule trust far more than
I would Lord Brassey's. In any event it would be idle to try to make an
alteration in them now. The points you raise have been advanced hundreds
of times in the course of the arguments about them, and met hundreds of
times. As I say, I think I could furnish you a much stronger brief against
them than Lord Brassey could or than you raise, for some of the best men
we have are violently opposed to them. I am inclined, however, to think the
Kearsarge or Kentucky better than the English battleships of the Majestic
type; personally I believe the 8-inch gun, combined with rapid-fire 5-inch
guns, makes a better secondary battery than the rapid-fire 6-inch guns of the
English ships. The constructors here do not agree with me, however, and
in our last ships they have followed the English model. Personally I believe
the Iowa to be a better ship than any of the English ships, aside from the one
question of the conning tower, into which I shall look.
With many thanks, Sincerely yours
722 • TO JAMES HARRISON WILSON Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, May 8, 1897
My dear General: As regards yourself I am happy to say I have found out,
in reference to Mr. Foster,1 that what has been talked over for him was
*On the two new batdeships, Kentucky and Kearsarge, then building at Newport
News, the guns of the secondary battery were pkced in turrets on top of the turrets
housing the great guns of the main battery. Structural convenience, in part, produced
this disposition of the armament. Primarily, however, it was developed as a weight-
saving device. Congress had unwisely limited the tonnage of these vessels in the
appropriations bill. Upon this given displacement the Navy sought to include arma-
ment equal to that carried by any foreign adversary. To achieve this purpose the
designers ingeniously hit upon the idea of the superimposed turret.
This design was bitterly and justifiably criticized by a large part of the service.
There were many disadvantages from a military point of view, notably that the
eight- and thirteen-inch guns had to be trained alike. But with the mysterious persist-
ence or inertia of the government bureau, the Navy Department continued this gun
disposition in its battleships until the building of the Louisiana* in 1904.
"Thomas Brassey, first Earl Brassey, British naval authority, a civil lord of the ad-
miralty, founder (1886) and editor of Brassey's Naval Annual.
'William Thomas Sampson, naval officer who was appointed, over a dozen senior
officers, to command die North Atlantic Squadron during the Spanish-American
War.
1 John Watson Foster, for eight months Secretary of State in the Harrison adminis-
tration. His career was devoted to international affairs, either privately as an author-
6lO
simply a special mission to Russia, which would not interfere in the least
with you. I don't think I shall ask him about Rockhill. The statement of his
being against him came from Dr. Jones, of Cincinnati, on the authority of a
Cabinet officer. I shall not go over to the President this afternoon about you
merely because I am afraid I might hurt you. I have spoken to him three
times already, and I don't think he altogether likes a subordinate in one of
his departments speaking to him as I did the last time. I don't mean that I
spoke disrespectfully, but I did speak very urgently. Very sincerely yours
7 2 3 • TO WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT RoOSCVelt
Washington, May 10, 1897
My dear Toft: I am more sorry than I can say to have to write you of Willie
Phillips' death. I cannot begin to express the shock it has been to us all. He
was knocked off the sailboat by the shifting of the boom. It was perfectly
smooth water. They rowed to him at once, but he must have been injured
in some way, for he made no outcry and seemed to swim away from the boat
until he sank. Mrs. Lodge has been fairly prostrated by the accident, and I
dread the effect on Mrs. Roosevelt, for I hardly know any man who had
made such a place for himself in the hearts of so many people. I think he was
the most disinterested, kindly soul I ever met, and he never thought of him-
self at all.
With deep sorrow, Faithfully yours
724 ' TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN RoOSCVelt MsS.
Washington, May 17, 1897
My dear Captain Mohan: All I can do toward pressing our ideas into effect
will be done, as I am sure you need not to be told. Do write me from time
to time, because there are many, many points which you will see that I should
miss.
Let me ask you a personal question: Have you finished your history of
the Revolutionary War for Laird Clowes? I am going to send him in a
fortnight my piece on the War of 1812. When do you intend to get out
your book on the War of 1812? I take some interest in it because I rather
hope they won't come out at the same time, not so much for my own sake
as for Clowes; for what you say will be the final word on the subject, and
will be rightfully so accepted. Sincerely yours
ity on international law or publicly as his country's representative in diplomatic posts
and special missions. In 1897 he went both to Great Britain and to Russia as an
"Ambassador on special mission."
611
725 • TO JACOB AUGUST Riis Roosevelt Atss.
Washington, May 17, 1897
My dear Mr. Riis: It did me good to get your letter, and to read the very
interesting letter of your boy. Indeed he evidently has a touch of his father's
skill with the pen; and from all I have seen of him, my dear fellow, I am
sure he has more than a touch of both his father's and his mother's characters,
and with such an equipment the boy cannot fail to do well. He evidently
really appreciates the poetry of those great, lonely plains; and his letter
brought them up before me so vividly!
Yes, I noticed that Parker and Grant every now and then make little
allusions to me, but I don't care. I would rather have your friendship than
anything else that Mulberry Street could have given me, and the pleasure
I had in my two years' intimate companionship with you outweighed a hun-
dred fold whatever there was disagreeable in the work.
Goodbye, and Heaven be with you and yours. Ever faithfully
726 • TO HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, May 18, 1897
Sir: I I have been greatly interested in Dr. Merriam's article2 as to discriminat-
ing between species and subspecies. With his main thesis I entirely agree.
I think that the word "species" should express degree of differentiation rather
than intergradation. I am not quite at one with Dr. Merriam, however, on
the question as to how great the degree of differentiation should be in order
to establish specific rank. I understand entirely that in some groups the
species may be far more closely related than in others; and I suppose I may
as well confess that I have certain conservative instincts which are jarred
when an old familiar friend is suddenly cut up into eleven brand new ac-
quaintances. I think he misunderstands my position, however, when he says,
"Why should we try to unite different species under common names?" He
here assumes, just as if he were a naturalist of eighty years ago, that a "spe-
cies" is always something different by its very nature from all other species;
1 Henry Fairfield Osborn, paleontologist, a man of great ability and incredible
energy, effective in many fields — education (organizer of the Department of Biology
at Columbia), administration (president of the American Museum of Natural His-
tory), evolution (The Earth Speaks to Bryan, New York, 1925) and natural sciences,
the field in which he was pre-eminent (The Age of Mammals in Europe, Asia and
North America, New York, 1910).
*The article was Suggestions for a New Method of Discriminating Between Spe-
cies and Subspecies," Science, 5'753^758 (May 14, 1897), by Clinton Hart Mer-
riam, MX)., chief of the United States Biological Survey, 1885-1910. Roosevelt and
Merriam were at this time arguing about the nature of species and subspecies. Roose-
velt replied to Merriam's article in the June 4th issue of Science. Earlier the two men
had debated on May 8, 1897; see Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington,
vol. XI, p. x (1897).
6l2
whereas the facts are that species, according to his own showing in the
beginning of his article, are merely more or less arbitrary divisions, estab-
lished for convenience's sake by ourselves, between one form and its ances-
tral and related forms.
I believe that with fuller material Dr. Merriam could go on creating new
"species" in groups like the bears, wolves and coyotes until he would him-
self find that he would have to begin to group them together after the man-
ner of the abhorred «"Campers"». His tendency to discover a new species is
shown by the allusion in the last part of his article to the "unknown form
of wapiti" which has been exterminated from the Allegheny country. The
wapiti was formerly found in the Allegheny regions; there it was beyond a
doubt essentially the same animal that is now found in the Rockies. Probably
it agreed more closely with the wapiti of Minnesota, which still here and
there survives, than the latter does with those of Oregon. It may have been
slightly different, just as very possibly a minute study of wapiti from the
far South, the far North, the dry plains, the high mountains, and the wet
Pacific forests might show that there were a number of what Dr. Merriam
would call "species" of wapiti. If this showing were made, the fact would
be very interesting and important; but I think it would be merely cumbrous
to lumber up our zoological works by giving names to all as "new species."
It is not the minor differences among wapiti, but their essential likenesses,
that is important.
So with the wolves. Dr. Merriam has shown that there are different forms
of wolf and coyote in many different parts of the country. When he gets a
fuller collection I am quite sure he will find a still larger number of differ-
ences and he can add to the already extensive assortment of new species.
Now, as I have said before, it is a very important and useful work to show
that these differences exist, but I think it is only a darkening of wisdom to
insist upon treating them all as a new species. Among ordinary American
bipeds, the Kentuckian, the New Englander of the sea coast, the Oregonian,
the Arizonian, all have characteristics which separate them quite as markedly
from one another as some of Dr. Merriam's bears and coyotes are separated;
and I should just as soon think of establishing a species in the one case as in
the other.
Some of the big wolves and some of the coyotes which Dr. Merriam
describes may be entitled to specific rank, but if he bases separate species
upon characters no more important than those he employs, I firmly believe
that he will find that with every new locality which his collectors visit, he
will get new "species," until he has a snarl of forty or fifty for North Amer-
ica alone; and when we have reached such a point we had much better re-
arrange our terminology, if we intend to keep the binomial system at all, and
treat as a genus what we have been used to consider as a species. It would
be more convenient and less cumbersome; and it would be no more mis-
leading.
613
Dr. Merriam states that the coyotes do not essentially resemble each
other, or essentially differ from the wolves. It seems to me, however, that
he does, himself, admit their essential difference from the wolves by the
fact that he treats them all together even when he splits them up into three
supra-specific groups and eight to eleven species. He goes on to say that
there is an enormous gap between the large northern coyote and the small
southern coyote of the Rio Grande, and another great gap between the big
gray wolf of the north and the big red wolf of the south, while the northern
coyote and the southern wolf approach one another. Now I happen to have
hunted over the habitats of the four animals in question. I have shot and
poisoned them, and hunted them with dogs, and noticed their ways of life.
In each case the animal decreases greatly in size, according to its habitat, so
that in each case we have a pair of wolves, one big and one small, which, as
they go south, keep relatively as far apart as ever, the one from the other.
At any part of their habitat they remain entirely distinct; but as they grow
smaller toward the south a point is of course reached when the southern
representative of the big wolf begins to approach the northern representative
of the small wolf. In voice and habits the differences remain the same. As
they grow smaller they of course grow less formidable. The northern wolf
will hamstring a horse, the southern carry off a sheep; the northern coyote
will tackle a sheep, when the southern will only rob a hen-roost. In each
place the two animals have two different voices, and as far as I could tell, the
voices were not much changed from north to south. Now, it seems to me
that in using a term of convenience, which is all that the term species is, it
is more convenient and essentially more true to speak of this pair of varying
animals as wolf and coyote rather than by a score of different names which
serve to indicate a score of different sets of rather minute characteristics.
Once again let me point out that I have no quarrel with Dr. Merriam's
facts, but only with the names by which he thinks these facts can best be
expressed and emphasized. Wolves and coyotes, grizzly bears and black
bears, split up into all kinds of forms; and I well know how difficult it will
be, and how much time and study will be needed, to group all these various
forms naturally and properly into two or three or more species. Only a man
of Dr. Merriam's remarkable knowledge and attainments and ability can
ever make such groupings. But I think he will do his work, if not in better
shape, at least in a manner which will make it more readily understood by
outsiders, if he proceeds on the theory that he is going to try to establish
different species only when there are real fundamental differences, instead
of cumbering up the books with hundreds of specific titles which will always
be meaningless to any but a limited number of technical experts, and which,
even to them, will often serve chiefly to obscure the relationships of the dif-
ferent animals by overemphasis on minute points of variation. It is not a
good thing to let the houses obscure the city.
614
7 2 7 ' TO FREDERICK COURTENEY SELOUS RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, May 1 8, 1897
Dear Mr. Selous: The other day I sent you a copy of Science containing
some remarks of mine on scientific nomenclature.1 1 thought you might pos-
sibly be interested in it.
I am very sorry you shouldn't have had better luck with your Asiatic
stags. However, I am pretty well hardened to bad luck myself. I think I read
Buxton's account of his shooting that giant stag. It must have been well up
to the size of an ordinary wapiti. I am sorry not to see you in August, but
shall look forward to seeing you in October.
I have been made Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and you had better
address me here at the Navy Department in Washington after this. Give me
as much warning as possible when you are coming to New York, because I
may not be there unless I am warned well in advance, as my duties keep me
in Washington most of the time.
I enclose the map of Wyoming, and also one of Montana, and I have
drawn out my own course. Unfortunately I can't give you definite informa-
tion about the passes of which you speak, because I have never come into
the country quite the way in which you will have to come into it; but
Archibald Rogers has two or three times been over the Stinking Water with
a pack train, so that I know you could get in from that side. I have not shot
on the Big Horn mountains for thirteen years. Elk were then very plentiful.
They afterwards grew very scarce, and am told now are fairly plentiful
again. You will get into camp at exactly the right time. I should not myself
venture to advise you to go to the Big Horn, for I know nothing about it
now except by hearsay, while I do know the country south of the Yellow-
stone Park and around the headwaters of the Snake, and there the elk are
certainly abundant, but Montcrieffe will undoubtedly have your hunting
grounds carefully looked out for you. You must remember that it is quite a
trip down from the Big Horn mountains into and across the Big Horn valley
and up to the Jackson's Lake country, and if you are satisfied there is no
game on the Big Horn mountains I should leave them as early as practicable.
I take it for granted, however, that Montcrieffe will furnish you with a guide
who will know the passes. When I was in the Big Horn I had to explore
my way, as I did also on the Two Ocean Pass . . . , but there is no need for
such exploration now.
Let me know if there is any change in your plans, or anything further
where I can be of the least assistance to you. Very truly yours
P.S. I send herewith two big maps of Wyoming and Montana, and a few
small county maps from the Geological Survey. The latter would be very
1 Theodore Roosevelt, "A Layman's Views on Specific Nomenclature," Science,
5:685-688 (April 30, 1897).
615
useful to you if I could get enough of them, but unfortunately there are
only a few sheets completed. I have marked with a red pencil my routes, but
the marking is done from memory without my journals being on hand, and
can only be taken as illustrating the general direction. For instance, I cannot
at the moment call to mind exactly where I forded a given stream, which
I sometimes did a dozen times in a day. Moreover, I was traveling largely by
guess and always without any map, so that I am not perfectly certain, when
you come to the smaller creeks marked on the map, which of two close to-
gether it was that I went up.
The greatest variety of game I got was in southwestern Montana, where
you will see by my red trail that I hunted about a good deal, making three
different trips. In northwestern Montana I also did a good deal of hunting,
as you will see, and I took a separate hunt, chiefly, however, for the purpose
of coursing wolves, in the western central part, along the Sun River region.
My ranch was in North Dakota, close to the eastern edge of Montana,
and I could not begin to put on the map all my travels around there. I made
two trips to the Big Horn, although only in one did I really penetrate the
mountains and make a regular hunt. The other time I was buying horses.
Nowhere did I find wapiti so plentiful as south of the Yellowstone Park, and
moreover my hunt there was the last I have taken in the mountains. The very
little shooting I have been able to do for the last five years was after deer,
antelope, and very rarely, sheep, in the neighborhood of my ranch, or south-
ward up the Little Missouri to the Black Hills.
Since I hunted on the Kootenai a railroad has been built «there», and
another railroad crosses the line of my travels with the Big Horn over what
was then an entirely wild country in 1884.
The best place I know for sheep is just east of the Yellowstone Park.
I am afraid this information will seem a little vague, but I hope at least
the maps will be of some use. When you can tell me a little more definitely
about your trip I will get letters for you from the Secretary of War and
the Secretary of the Interior, not only to all their subordinates generally,
but to the Commanders of any special posts near which you are apt to be.
728 ' TO RICHARD HENRY DANA RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, May 21, 1897
My dear Dana: As you have been interested about those double turrets on
the Kentucky and Kearsarge, I will tell you in confidence that ever since I
have been here I have been going over them and I hope that I may yet get
them taken off. I write you now because from some conversation I have had
with the constructors at Newport News, whose views coincide with mine,
616
I have a little more hope than I have had yet.1 But Sampson, one of our very
best men, thinks I am hopelessly astray. Very sincerely yours
729 • TO HENRY CLAY TAYLOR Roosevelt
Washington, May 24, 1897
Dear Captain Taylor: 1 1 am much obliged to you for that note. Later on if
I can get away for two or three days when you test your guns I shall do so.
I shall be very seasick, but I won't mind that if I can see the guns in opera-
tion.
I have submitted to the Secretary the staff plan. I entirely agree with you.
I am especially pleased with what you say as to the readiness of the
Indiana in the event of any difficulty. I recently made a report on the torpedo
boat Porter, especially because I was disgusted at the way the newspapers
exaggerated every casualty. Very sincerely yours
730 • TO CASPAR FREDERICK GOODRICH RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, May 28, 1897
My dear Captain Goodrich: x Your letter of the 22nd instant to the Secretary
was referred to me to think up a special problem for the Staff and Class at
the War College. I enclose one which will, I think, be of interest and im-
portance in certain contingencies. Very sincerely yours
1 Holden Evans in his One Man's Fight for a Better Navy (New York, 1940), gives
a quite different report of this conversation. The Naval Constructor J. J. Woodward,
at Newport News where the Kearsarge and Kentucky were building, had long been
an opponent of the superimposed turret. He hoped when Roosevelt visited the yard
that he could persuade the Assistant Secretary to change the designs. Upon his
arrival Roosevelt, however, "began to extol the wonderful design of the Kearsarge
and from there went on into general remarks about designing and building ships."
Woodward said afterward, *1 have been told that he considers himself an expert in
many lines. Now I know he thinks he's an expert in naval architecture" (p. 114).
If accurate, this account would offset much of the distortion and error to be found
in Evans' general description of the origin and development of the superimposed
turret.
1 Henry Clay Taylor, brother-in-law of R. D. Evans, a much abler man than
most of the more publicized naval officers of his generation. The staff plan men-
tioned in this letter was later used by Taylor when he was chief of the Bureau of
Navigation in 1900 to urge upon the Secretary the necessity of a General Staff for
the Navy. Despite the lesson of the Spanish-American War, Mr. Long opposed the
idea as '^militaristic." He did, however, accept the shadow of the plan's substance in
establishing the decorative General Board. For descriptions of naval organization
and administration at this time see Alfred Thayer Mahan, Naval Administration and
Warfare (Boston, 1908), pp. 51-85; Charles O. Paullin, "Naval Administration in
America," Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, vols. 38, 39, 40; Eltin^
E. Morison, Admiral Sims and the Modern American Navy (Boston, 1942), ch. vi.
1 Captain Caspar Frederick Goodrich, U.S .N., president of the Naval War College.
617
Special Confidential Problem for War College:
Japan makes demands on Hawaiian Islands.
This country intervenes.
What force will be necessary to uphold the intervention, and
how shall it be employed?
Keeping in mind possible complications with another Power on
the Atlantic Coast (Cuba).
731 • TO AVERY DE LANO ANDREWS Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, May 28, 1897
My dear Andrews: I noticed that in the newspapers. I hesitated for a moment
whether or not to write to Parker that I had long known he was a liar and
a scoundrel, and now knew him to be a coward. From where I was, at the
time I came out of Clarendon Hall, not only was the stage invisible, but I
had not the slightest idea there was a stage. It looked exactly like any other
beer hall, and Parker might just as well say that because I have been to
dances at Sherry's I was therefore responsible for the Seeley dinner itself.1
Later in the summer I shall certainly get a chance to see you. I follow
your course with the greatest interest.
I am very glad Scott sustained our views; I earnestly hope he won't be
misled into making any wrong reports on the Brooks and McCullagh list.
Fred Grant may have had any kind of motive in acting as he did, but both
you and I felt that at that time no other man was entitled to more than 40,
and the only person we had any doubts about was a non-veteran (Cross).
Give my regards to Mrs. Andrews. Faithfully yours
7 3 2 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, May 29, 1897
Dear Cecil: Your letter made amends for all your silence.
First, as to myself and my belongings. I have been a month in office now,
and I heartily enjoy the work. I was very sorry to leave the New York Police
Force for some reasons, because it was such eminently practical work, and
1 At a meeting of the New York police commissioners on May 26, Andrew Parker,
one of the commissioners, suggested that the police had failed to close the rather
broad burlesque performance at Clarendon Hall because Roosevelt was known to
have visited the place. This produced an angry exchange between Parker and Avery
Andrews which ended when Jacob Riis, wno had been a silent spectator, arose to
say he had accompanied Roosevelt on his trip to Clarendon Hall and that Roosevelt
had not seen or known of the burlesque performance. Roosevelt's reference to
Sherry's was inspired by the reports, which had fascinated New York in December
1896, of a dinner given by Herbert Seeley at the famous restaurant. Entertainment,
in the form of Little Egypt, had been provided. For several days after the dinner
there was much speculation in the press about the exact extent of the clothing that
had covered the attractive dancer.
6l8
I very strongly feel that if there is going to be any solution of the big social
problems of the day, it will come, not through a vague sentimental philan-
thropy, and still less through a sentimental parlor socialism, but through actu-
ally taking hold of what is to be done and working, right in the mire. We
have got to take hold of the very things which give Tammany its success,
and show ourselves just as efficient as Tammany; only, efficient for decency.
During my two years on the Police Force I felt I accomplished a substantial
amount of good. It was nothing like what I would have liked to accomplish,
but it was something, after all. However, I came to about the end of what I
could do, and this was an opening for four years at something in which I
was extremely interested, and in which I believe with all my heart. I think
that in this country especially we want to encourage, so far as we can, the
fighting virtues, and it is a relief to be dealing with men who are simple and
straightforward, and want to do well, and strive more or less successfully to
live up to an honorable ideal. There is a great deal of work to be done here,
and though my position is of course an entirely subordinate one, still I can
accomplish something. I have been busy enough so far, for the Secretary,
who is a delightful man to work under, has been sending me around to vari-
ous navy yards, and during the hot weather I am expecting to stay here
steadily.
By the way, I have just sent Laird Clowes my contribution to his history
of the British Navy. It deals with the War of 1812. Mahan does the Revolu-
tionary War for him. I don't suppose my part will be out for a year.
For the last five weeks I have been staying with the dear Lodges, as my
house won't be ready until June, and my family are not coming on until the
fall. The Lodges are just the same as ever, but Mrs. Lodge is very much de-
pressed at the moment because poor Willie Phillips was drowned two weeks
ago. You know him a little when you were here. He was a man of whom we
became steadily fonder and fonder, and I hardly know any one who would
have left so real a gap in so many households. Mrs. Roosevelt always used to
say that he and you were the two guests whom she would like to have stay
any length of time at her house.
Mrs. Roosevelt herself is well. I have never seen her so well as she was
this winter, in looks, in health, in spirits and everything. Alice is taller than
she is now, and has become a very sweet girl indeed. Ted is an excessively
active and normally grimy small boy of nine. He is devoted to Kipling's
stories and poems, and has learned to swim, ride and chop quite well. He
and Kermit go to the Cove School, where they are taught by the daughter
of Captain Nelse Hawkshurst, one of the old-time baymen. Ethel is a cun-
ning, chubby, sturdy little thing of five, and Archie is just three, and is
treated by the entire family as a play-toy. I can't say much for either his
temper or his intelligence; but he is very bright and cunning, and we love
him dearly. The one thing I mind about this place is being absent from my
wife and children and my lovely home at Sagamore.
61 Q
Poor little Speck! The day after I received your letter I got one from
him, a pathetic, wooden letter, just like the little man himself. I am awfully
sorry about it.
What you say about Brooks Adams' book is essentially true. I would have
written my review very much more brutally than I did, but really I think
the trouble is largely that his mind is a little unhinged. All his thoughts show
extraordinary intellectual and literary dishonesty; but I don't think it is due
to moral shortcomings. I think it really is the fact that he isn't quite straight
in his head. For Heaven's sake don't quote this, as I am very fond of all the
family. His fundamental thesis is absolutely false. Indeed, the great majority
of the facts from which he draws his false deductions are themselves false.
Like the Roman Empire in the Second Century — like the Greek dominions
in the Third Century before Christ — our civilization shows very unhealthy
symptoms; but they are entirely different symptoms, and the conditions are
not only different, but in many important respects directly opposite to those
which formerly obtained. There seems good ground for believing that France
is decadent. In France, as in the later Roman world, population is decreasing,
and there is gross sensuality and licentiousness. France is following Spain in
her downward course, and yet from entirely different causes, and along an
entirely different path of descent. The bulk of the French people exist under
economic conditions the direct reverse of those which obtained in Rome, for
in France the country is held by an immense class of small, peasant proprie-
tors instead of being divided among the great slave-tilled farms of later
Rome; and in France there is no such tendency to abnormal city growth as
in the English-speaking countries.
I quite agree with you that the main cause of Rome's fall was a failure
of population which was accompanied by a change in the population itself,
caused by the immense importation of slaves, usually of inferior races. Our
civilization is far more widely extended than the early civilizations, and in
consequence, there is much less chance for evil tendencies to work univer-
sally through all its parts. The evils which afflict Russia are not the same as
those which afflict Australia. There are very unhealthy sides to the concen-
tration of power, at least of a certain kind of power, in the hands of the great
capitalists; but in our country at any rate, I am convinced that there is no
real oppression of the mass of the people by these capitalists. The condition
of the workman and the man of small means has been improved. The dimin-
ishing rate of increase of the population is of course the feature fraught with
most evil. In New England and France the population is decreasing; in Ger-
many, England and the Southern United States it is increasing much less
fast than formerly. Probably some time in the Twentieth Century the Eng-
lish-speaking peoples will become stationary, whereas the Slavs as yet show
no signs of this tendency, and though they may show it, and doubtless will in
the next century, it certainly seems as if they would beat us in the warfare of
the cradle. However, there are still great waste spaces which the English-
620
speaking peoples undoubtedly have the vigor to fill. America north of the
Rio Grande, and Australia, and perhaps Africa south of the Zambesi, all
possess a comparatively dense civilized population, English in law, tongue,
government and culture, and with English the dominant strain in the blood.
When the population becomes stationary I shall myself feel that evil days are
probably at hand; but we need to remember that extreme fecundity does not
itself imply any quality of social greatness. For several centuries the South
Italians have been the most fecund and the least desirable population of
Europe.
It certainly is extraordinary that just at this time there seems to be a
gradual failure of vitality in the qualities, whatever they may be, that make
men fight well and write well. I have a very uneasy feeling that this may
mean some permanent deterioration. On the other hand, it may be merely a
phase through which we are passing. There certainly have been long stretches
of time prior to this when both writers and fighters have been few in num-
ber. The forty years following the close of the first decade of the Eighteenth
Century is a case in point.
Proctor, whom you remember, sends you his regards. He is listening to
me as I dictate these closing sentences. He is a confirmed optimist. I am not
quite so much of a one, but I am not a pessimist by any means. Always yours
7 3 3 • TO CHARLES ANDERSON DANA RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, June 7, 1897
My dear Mr. Dana: I very much appreciate your editorial on my speech;1
but upon my word I sometimes grow to fear that the Sun and a few Senators
are the only representatives of true American sentiment, in naval and foreign
affairs which we have in the Northeast. I feel that all true Americans should
be grateful for the stand you take in these matters. Faithfully yours
734 • TO j. M. WALL Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 7, 1897
My dear Mr. Wall: Your letter pleased me very greatly. I feel, exactly as
you do, hot with indignation at the seeming utter decadence of national
spirit among us, and the craven policy which actuates the peace dilettante
and the man to whom making money is all that there is in life. Like you,
I only wish that our Anglo-maniacs, in their servile admiration of England,
would copy England's really great point, that is, the fact that the English-
man is for England first, last and all the time, against America and everyone
*On June 2, 1897, Roosevelt delivered at the Naval War College his famous apos-
trophe to the martial spirit which included such propositions as "No triumph of
peace is quite so great as the supreme triumphs of war." Less pacific temperaments
than John D. Long doubtless shared the Secretary's irritated opposition to the '
Rooseveltian concept that "the diplomat is the servant, not the master of the soldier."
621
else, and can always be aroused to enthusiasm by any appeal for national
defense. Why the Tribune, and papers of that stamp, should show such timid
lack of patriotism I really don't know.
Again thanking you, Sincerely yours
735 • TO ALFRED STEDMAN HARTWELL Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, June 7, 1897
My dear Mr. Harfwell: * I was very glad to hear from you. I shall do any-
thing I can to get those articles out.
I am happy to say that Secretary Long is a strong believer in our taking
possession of Hawaii in some shape or other. Of course I absolutely agree
with you that it should be done at once; but this must be kept as confidential,
for, as you can readily understand, I haven't any authority to commit the
administration. Gratefully and faithfully yours
736 • TO JOHN HAY Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 7, 1897
My dear Mr. Ambassador: Let me introduce to you my friend Assistant En-
gineer Proctor of the U. S. S. Brooklyn. He is one of the finest young men
I know, and I bespeak your courtesy for him. Both Mrs. Roosevelt and I are
very fond of him. He is the son of Proctor, the Gvil Service Commissioner.
I only wish I were over myself with him.
By the way, don't let them bluff you out of the use of the word "Amer-
can." I don't «think» anything better has been done than your calling your-
self the American Ambassador and using the word American instead of
United States. It is good all through.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Hay. Very faithfully yours
7 3 7 • TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN Roosevelt MSS.
Personal Washington, June 9, 1 897
My dear Mahan: I have shown that very remarkable letter to the Secretary.
Yesterday I urged immediate action by the President as regards Hawaii.
Entirely between ourselves, I believe he will act very shortly. If we take
Hawaii now, we shall avoid trouble with Japan, but I get very despondent at
times over the blindness of our people, especially of the best-educated classes.
In strict confidence I want to tell you that Secretary Long is only luke-
warm about building up our Navy, at any rate as regards battleships. In-
deed, he is against adding to our battleships. This is, to me, a matter of the
most profound concern. I feel that you ought to write to him — not im-
mediately, but sometime not far in the future — at some length, explaining
^Alfred Stedman Hartwell, special agent of the Hawaiian government in Wash-
ington.
622
to him the vital need of more battleships now, and the vital need of con-
tinuity in our naval policy. Make the plea that this is a measure of peace and
not of war. I cannot but think your words would carry weight with him.
He didn't like the address I made to the War College at Newport the
other day. I shall send it to you when I get a copy.
I do not congratulate you upon the extraordinary compliment paid you
by the Japanese, only because I know you care more for what we are doing
with the Navy than for any compliment. Sincerely yours
7 3 8 • TO RICHARD OLNEY Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 9, 1897
My dear Mr. Olney: I have got young McCawley's matter satisfactorily ar-
ranged, I think; at any rate I have done everything that it is in my power to
do.1 1 failed about Chief Clerk «Remick», though I did my best.
Now, about the other and even more important matter of Rockhill. I
have four times been to see the President about Rockhill. It evidently is not
settled yet. I have been trying to arrange for a last desperate push. I ear-
nestly wish that you would write as strong a letter as you know how for
Rockhill to the President — a letter which he will receive on Tuesday, next,
when he returns. Don't make China an ultimatum. Say that Greece will be
satisfactory if China is impossible, but that you earnestly hope Mr. Rock-
hill will be given the place to which he is entitled. Put it as strong as you
can. I know you won't like to do this. Well, I haven't liked to go to the
President again and again about Rockhill myself; and I didn't much like to
bother him about young McCawley; but I did both things gladly. I do hope
you will do this for Rockhill, too. As you know, I haven't the slightest inter-
est in it except a desire to see Rockhill treated as I think he should be.
Pray, remember me warmly to Mrs. Olney. I am enjoying this work
very much. Faithfully yours
739-TO NATHANIEL GREENE HERRESHOFF Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, June i o, 1897
My dear Mr. Herreshoff: x I have had a long talk with the Secretary. I am
not at liberty to tell you all that passed. I think you understand pretty clearly
1 Charles Laurie McCawley, the son of a Marine officer, entered the Marine Corps,
with Roosevelt's assistance, on June 27. He distinguished himself the following year
for his bravery under fire at Guantanamo Bay. Roosevelt appointed him a military
aide in 1902. In this position he became a sprightly and commanding figure in the
social life of Washington. His influence in the administration of the affairs of society
vexed many. In the first World War he served as Quartermaster of the Marine
Corps.
1 Nathaniel Greene Herreshoff, famous small boat builder of Bristol, Rhode Island,
whose firm at this time had a contract with the Navy for the construction of
torpedo boats.
623
my attitude in the matter, however. At present I think you had better wait
a few days. The Secretary has a plan on hand by which he thinks further
trouble can be averted, and that will have to be tried first.
I have made a very strong plea that you be given your first payment
immediately (but I must request you to keep this confidential); I have hopes
that my plea will be successful. I will let you know as soon as the Secretary
gives me permission to take any further steps, or as soon as I think your
coming on to see him will do good. Just at the moment I doubt if there is
anything to be gained. I have asked him to consult any or all of the yachts-
men of whom you wrote, but he answered me that it was entirely useless, for
nothing that they could say would add to his already high opinion of your
firm. He seems fully to appreciate your ^worthiness*. Faithfully yours
740 • TO JAMES BRANDER MATTHEWS RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, June 10, 1897
Dear Brander: I don't know whether this will catch you at home or not. You
spoke to me once about publishing a volume of essays. I fear I am bound to
Putnam's, but I will frankly say I would much rather publish them in your
series than anywhere else. I don't think I ought to get out of my arrange-
ment with Putnam's, although this arrangement was merely implied; but it
is possible they will not wish to publish them in the shape I should prefer,
and so I should like to know whether in such event you would care to have
a volume from me or not. By the way, will you tell me what are the money
arrangements in publishing these volumes.
I have been heartily enjoying myself here, and really like the work.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Matthews and Miss Matthews. Faithfully
yours
741 • TO G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 10, 1897
Gentlemen: I shall shortly have ready the essays for that volume,1 about
which Mr. George Haven Putnam spoke to me. Will you kindly, however,
have sent to me a copy of my Practical Politics? as the two essays it contains
are to be embodied in this volume.
I wish to speak of one matter, however. Mr. Putnam told me that he
only wanted political essays in this volume. I have not got enough essays of
a purely political character, using the word "political" in its narrowest sense,
to make a volume of size sufficient to warrant its publication. Moreover, my
essays shade off so that it is hard to say when they are merely political and
when they are what might be called politico-social. My reviews of the books
1 American Ideals (New York, 1897; Nat. Ed. XIII).
•Theodore Roosevelt, Essays on Practical Politics (New York, 1888).
624
of Pearson, Kidd and Adams come under the last head. I find it impracticable
to separate in two sets. There are a number of things which I have written
that are not worthy of republication, and of those that are there are not
enough to divide. Now, if you think it unwise to publish the volume of
essays in the way I have indicated I want you to say so frankly, and without
the least hesitation. It would not be for your advantage, or for mine, to have
them brought out if it wasn't going to be worth while to bring them out, &
if you don't wish them I might try to make other arrangements.
In any event, please send me the Practical Politics. Yours truly
742 • TO FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, June n, 1897
Dear Franklin: 1 We shall be very glad to see you at Sagamore Hill on either
the 2 d or 3d of July, for as long as you can stay. One train leaves Long
Island City for Oyster Bay (our station) at u o'clock, and another at 2.
You take the East Thirty-fourth Street Ferry about 15 minutes earlier. Let
us know the day before which train you are coming on. Sincerely yours
743 ' TO WILLIAM SHEFFIELD COWLES Roosevelt
Washington, June 16, 1897
Dear Will: I am now getting a little more familiar with the ground, and
know somewhat "where I am at." My function is purely advisory, but every
now and then I carry weight. A great many people in whom I have no
earthly interest tell me now and then what they wish, or what they would
like to do. Sometimes I can't be of any assistance to them — sometimes I
can be — but often it really helps me to know what it is that they wish.
Now, when people in whom I have no interest do that, and when people in
whom I have a good deal of interest (like Harry Davis, for instance) but
of course nothing like the interest I have in you, do it, it seems to me you
might as well do it too. Captain Crowninshield * has promised that gun for
the Fern if she is sent anywhere. If you see any [way] in which it can be
hurried up, let me know.
If there is anything of any kind or sort that you want, I wish you would
write me perfectly frankly about it. It may be that I can't get it for you, but
I should like to have you write anyway.
I shall be at Sagamore for the first ten days of July, but I suppose I shall
probably not see you. Faithfully yours
1 Franklin D. Roosevelt was then a student at Groton School.
*Arent Schuyler Crowninshield, Rear Admiral, U.S.N., chief of the Bureau of
Navigation.
625
744 * TO CASPAR FREDERICK GOODRICH RoOSCVelt
Washington, June 16, 1897
My dear Captain Goodrich: Although there doesn't seem any immediate
likelihood of trouble with Japan at present, still I have been studying your
letter in connection with a possible Japanese problem with very great inter-
est. Your letter is very suggestive, and there is much in your plan which I
think will be of great use; nevertheless it seems to me that the determining
factor in any war with Japan would be the control of the sea, and not the
presence of troops in Hawaii. If we smash the Japanese Navy, definitely and
thoroughly, then the presence of a Japanese army corps in Hawaii would
merely mean the establishment of Hawaii as a half-way post for that army
corps on its way to our prisons. If we didn't get control of the seas then no
troops that we would be able to land after or just before the outbreak of a
war could hold Hawaii against the Japanese. In other words I think our
objective should be the Japanese fleet.
I look back with the greatest pleasure on my altogether too short visit
to the War College, and when I come on again I want to time my visit so
as to see one of your big strategic war games. Sincerely yours
745 • TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS, THE METROPOLITAN CLUB, WASHINGTON
Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 16, 1897
Gentlemen: I am informed that there is some opposition to Senator Platt's
candidacy, on the ground that he cares nothing for club life at home and
would probably not care for it here, but would use the club to put up his
constituents. This has only just come to my ears and the rumor may be en-
tirely incorrect; but if any such objection exists I wish to write that in my
opinion it is entirely unfounded. It is true that in New York Mr. Platt is
not a club man. In New York I, myself, very rarely go to a club, although
I belong to several; and I have used the Metropolitan Club more in the last
two months than I have used any club in New York during my last two
years of residence there.
I am sure that Senator Platt wishes to join the club for precisely the
motives which influenced me, or any other applicant for membership. I
very earnestly hope that there is nothing in this alleged opposition to the
Senator's candidacy. Very respectfully
746 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Print ed1
Washington, June 17, 1897
Dear Cabot, I am very much pleased you are better; don't come back Sunday
unless you are all right; things are very quiet here (though I personally hope
1 Lodge, I, 267.
626
you 'will get back; for Long is off until July zd and wishes me then to take
ten days at O. B. so as to get in trim for the hot months alone! )
I am very much pleased over the Hawaiian business.2 Last evening I spent
very pleasantly at the White House. The President was as cordial as ever;
was much pleased with what I told of your support of and adhesion to him;
and expressed himself very strongly as in favor of going on with the up-
building of the Navy — Hanna backing up this like a man. I have dined
three times at the Harry Davises; I struggle hard to keep Hobday from
over-feeding me; Bella has nine puppies; and I have two or three stories for
Nannie — to whom give my warmest love. Yours ever
747 • TO WILLIAM LEONARD COURTNEY Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, June 17, 1897
My dear Sir: l My sister, Mrs. W. S. Cowles, informs me that you accepted
an article of mine called "Books on Big Game";2 and that she corrected the
proof (in which case I only hope the various proper names have come out
with some remote resemblance to those borne by their owners in real life).
If this is so will you kindly tell me when the article is to come out? I shall
probably want to use it as the basis of a chapter for the volume of the Boone
and Crockett Club, to be published next fall. Very sincerely yours
748 • TO MONTGOMERY SICARD Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, June 17, 1897
My dear Admiral Sicard: * It was a great pleasure to me to sign the official
letter to you today, informing you that you would have ample opportunity
for squadron manoeuvres in August and later. I should be very much obliged
if you would write me what plans you think ought to be carried out, and I
shall endeavor to co-operate with you in trying to put them through. I am
especially anxious to see you try our seven seagoing armor-clads in squad-
ron, for although they will include three ist-class battleships, two znd-class
battleships, and two armored cruisers, yet they are sufficiently alike in type
to make it possible to manoeuvre with them, and I suppose they will all be
used in the line if we have a naval war. I do hope that this summer you will
be able to make pretty fair tests of our ships, both as individual ships and as
a squadron, and as to seaworthiness, power of manoeuvring, separately and
together, and gun practice. If it were a possible thing I should particularly
8 On June 16, President McKinley had sent the treaty for Hawaiian annexation to
the Senate.
1 William Leonard Courtney, editor of the Fortnightly Review.
'Theodore Roosevelt, "Boole on Big Game," Fortnightly Review, 69:604-611 (April
1898).
1 Montgomery Sicard, Rear Admiral, commanding North Atlantic Station.
627
like to be aboard for a day or two on some ship of your squadron when you
are going to sea for gun practice. Very sincerely yours
749 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 18, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: There is very little for me to write you about.
Everything has gone along very quietly.
I got hold of the old report of Commander Rodgers about the price of
armor plate in France. This is the report that Secretary Herbert was said to
have taken off. I do not know whether you have seen it or not. It struck me
as singularly good; and if your action in making the effort for $425 a ton
needed any justification this report would amply supply it, both as against
a higher and a lower price.
I have been in communication with Admiral Sicard about the squadron
evolutions in August and September. I have written him that I especially
hope all our seagoing armor-clads will be tried in squadron. We cannot
afford to have the captains of what are the ships of the line undrilled in fleet
tactics.
The bureaus seem to be in a condition of unwonted harmony, though
there are signs of a storm brewing because Lieutenant Gleaves has reported
that the Cushing's boilers were not properly attended to at Norfolk, and
the engineers are inclined to regard this as somehow another unholy move
on the part of the Herreshoffs.
There has been a violent recrudescence of the anti-Bowles feeling among
the Brooklyn Congressmen, who have been around to see me by platoons
with a shoal of new complaints.1 1 have sent Commander Davis on to go into
the matter thoroughly and report to me; if necessary I will consider his
report merely as a preliminary.
I had an extremely pleasant talk with the President the other day. When
you come on, I want to tell you what he said about the Navy. He shows an
astonishing grasp of the situation. I am very much pleased about the Hawai-
ian business.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Long and Miss Long. I hope you are
enjoying «yourself and will not return until you wish* to. I have made
arrangements to go away about the id of July, and stay for ten days or
thereabouts, in accordance with your suggestion, but my plans can be
changed any time, and if you want to change yours, or find you don't care
to be here much in July, simply let me know. Faithfully yours
1 The complaints were directed at Francis Tiffany Bowles, naval constructor whose
efficient administration of the Brooklyn Navy Yard labor force was severely criti-
cized in certain quarters because it was more influenced by considerations of merit
than of politics, especially the political influence of veterans. Later he was president
of the Fore River Shipbuilding Company.
628
[Handwritten] Mr McFarland of the Boston Herald, your friend, has
been here about his brother the ensign; and I think I can fix it all right.
750 • TO JOHN GRIMES WALKER RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, June 21, 1897
My dear Admiral: l Will you call on me on Wednesday at noon, and bring
along your press copy book containing your report on the annexation of
Hawaii, made in 1894 while you were in command of the Pacific Squadron
at Honolulu? I should like very much to see that report, which we do not
seem to be able to find on file in the Department. Sincerely yours
751 'TO CHARLES ADDISON BOUTELLE RoOSCVelt
Washington, June 22, 1897
My dear Mr. Boutelle: I am very much obliged to you for what you did
about that dry dock. It was one of the matters concerning which I wished
to consult you; but there are several just as important about which I wish
to get your advice.
By the way, it has always seemed to me a pity that we should lose from
the Navy the names of the famous old ships and of the great sea officers of
the past. I wish some provision could be made by law to enable us to name
any future battleships and big cruisers after our ships which have been vic-
torious in the past. Names like the Wasp, Hornet, etc., would be very appro-
priate for the torpedo boats, and would commemorate the most gallant little
sloops that ever sailed or fought on the high seas; and I should like to see our
big fighting ships commemorate the skill and prowess not only of great
admirals like Farragut, but of captains like Lawrence and Decatur, Hull,
Perry and Macdonough.
We need to replace our old slow-fire guns on the battleships and cruisers
with modern rapid-fire guns. A battery of rapid-fire guns has been provided
by law for the Hartford, where they are of no earthly use; at least as com-
pared with the use they would be if put upon the Philadelphia or San Fran-
cisco. I am very anxious to consult with you to find out if there is not some
way by which we can put this battery on one of these two ships where it
will be of real service. Very sincerely yours
1 John Grimes Walker, Rear Admiral, U.S.N. As chief of the Bureau of Navigation,
1881-1889, he dominated the naval service. The loss of his report in the files of the
Department, here cited by Roosevelt, indicates the early origin of a practice that
has since achieved the dignity of a tradition.
629
752 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 22, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: To my regret the Herreshoffs did not put in a bid
for the new fast torpedo boats yesterday.
The board of officers on the Porter have forwarded a savage attack on
the Bureaus of Construction and Repair and Engineering in reference to
their course toward that boat. This, however, I have simply confiscated and
filed, as there seems to be no point in allowing the controversy to continue.
If the other torpedo boats do as well as the Herreshoff boats, of course the
fact that the Herreshoffs didn't bid will be of small consequence; but they
have been the successful pioneers of torpedo-boat building in this country,
and I should like very much to have them keep on if only as a spur to the
others, because we must get the best torpedo boats afloat.
I am at work getting information from the Bureaus as to the possibility
of cutting down the mass of reports. On the torpedo boats this cutting down
should be done at once, for it is a serious impairment of their efficiency, and
is entirely needless. I enclose you an extract from a letter from Ensign Cros-
ley, who is acting as engineer of the Porter, to Captain Evans.
I have received a perfect outburst of complaints from officers of every
rank about the new uniform. They apparently like the cap, but object much
to the amount of gold lace on the sleeves, etc. However, I have told them
that it was nothing with which I had to deal.
Captain Crowninshield does not wish to send Lieutenant Winslow to any
torpedo boat in connection with the torpedo-boat flotilla work at Newport,
and from there down to Galveston; nevertheless, I am convinced that it is a
mistake not to send him. This is our first serious experiment in handling
torpedo boats, and the only time they have ever been handled in a flotilla,
To my mind the wise course unquestionably is to have at least one of the
boats commanded by our most skillful and best trained torpedo-boat man,
and Winslow is the man. I very much wish he could be sent, for I think it
would be of the utmost help in developing a school of torpedo-boat officers.
I am very glad you got the book, but I hated to be obliged to send it
from New York where I couldn't write my name in it.
I have directed the Judge Advocate General to act as you outline in the
Kittery matter.
After careful consideration I confirmed the Judge Advocate General's
recommendation in the Fancuilli case. Taking all the circumstances into
account it didn't seem to me that he should be dismissed from the service,
so I gave him a wigging instead.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Long and Miss Long. Faithfully yours
P.S. I have just received your second letter. I hope you will go to Ports-
mouth, There isn't the slightest necessity of your returning. Nothing of
630
importance has arisen, or seems likely to arise. Should anything important
come up I would wire you at once.
753 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 23, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: The enclosed memorandum I send simply because
it again calls attention to the overloading of the torpedo boats with paper
work. All the bureaus are agreed on substantial reductions in the paper work,
although I don't think they go far enough. Unless you object I shall embody
the suggestions for the reduction of the paper work, so far as the torpedo
boats are concerned, in an order.
After receiving so many protests about the change in uniform yesterday,
although I told the protestants that I had nothing to do with it, yet I thought
I would make some inquiries myself. As a result I find that some very good
officers heartily approve the changes, and think they do not go quite far
enough. I thought I would tell you this merely as I had mentioned the pro-
tests yesterday.
Lodge has come back, with the result that I have sagged down again in
the matter of punctuality, making my appearance at the Department a few
minutes before ten, instead of at nine.
We have some secret information as to the submarine torpedoes used on
the new Japanese war vessels. We also have information that the Japs are
feeling decidedly ugly about Hawaii; but I am very sure that their feelings
will not take any tangible form.
I almost wish you had been here now instead of in July, for the weather
has been delightfully cool.
I enclose a letter from Senator Cockrell which he handed me in person.
I always liked the Senator, and I told him I would very gladly forward you
his letter at once.
Did I write you that I had a very pleasant talk with Barrett? Faithfully
yours
754 • TO SETH LOW Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 23, 1897
My dear Low: Mr. Bloomingdale,1 of Bloomingdale Brothers, a good fellow
representing about our views in politics, that is, an "independent organiza-
tion" man of the best type, has just been in to see me, and something he said
made me think of writing you. I am going to ask you to keep this letter as
confidential, for the President is particularly anxious I shan't mix up in our
local New York politics.
1Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, lawyer, merchant, humanitarian, Republican.
It seems to me that some of our friends who are very sincere and zealous
are confounding the substance with the chaff. We want your election.2 As
an absolute necessity, of course, we might have to be content with casting a
"conscience vote," but if we possibly can we want to win, and I think we
have a good show. Now it seems to me to be mere folly to throw away the
chance of winning for an inadequate reason, and especially upon some point
of punctillio about priority of nomination. My own view is that if the repub-
lican organization will take you on your own terms that we should soothe
their pride by the trivial concession of letting them nominate you first. I am
the last man that would advocate your making a deal which would savor of
impropriety to the most fastidious; but it does seem to me as if we could
afford not to insist upon republicans nominating you last, provided they do
nominate you and accept the principles in which you and I believe.
Of course I don't know enough to advise you, but like every other decent
citizen I am so deeply interested in the matter that I can't help writing you.
Have you talked with Nicholas Murray Butler?8 I have a good deal of faith
in his judgment. If you care to let him know I have written I am perfectly
willing. Very sincerely yows
755 'TO CHARLES ADDISON BOUTELLE Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, June 26, 1897
My dear Mr. Boutelle: As it seems to be literally hopeless to find you in any
other way, and as I am very anxious to talk with you, for I am new to this
business, and the whole Navy has been carried on on the plans you inaugu-
rated in 1890, & must get a little chance to see you, won't you take lunch
with me, next week, say Wednesday, one o'clock, at the Metropolitan Club?
I will get Mr. Foss1 to lunch with us if you don't object. Faithfully yours
756 ' TO CHARLES HENRY DAVIS RoOSCVelt
Washington, June 28, 1897
My dear Davis: Your letter cleared up one or two points, for from what
Chadwick1 and Dewey2 had said I had begun to get the impression that you
regretted that you were not going to be able to make that western trip, and
1 The Citizens' Union, an organization established by New York City residents inter-
ested in reform, was planning to nominate Seth Low for the first mayor of Greater
New York. There was a possibility that the Republicans could be persuaded to
support Low on a fusion ticket.
8 Nicholas Murray Butler, then dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at Columbia.
1 George Edmund Foss, Republican congressman from Illinois, chairman of the
House Naval Affairs Committee, 1899-1911.
1 French Ensor Chadwick, Captain, later Rear Admiral, U.S.N.; chief of the Bureau
of Equipment, 1893-1897.
a George Dewey, then president of the Board of Inspection and Survey.
632
was feeling a little as if I ought to hurry up the work. I have very little
question that they had been told this from outside. I am extremely anxious
that you should continue this work and finish it once for all. I have just
issued orders that you are to come on here Wednesday. I will then have a
chance to talk with you, so be sure to see me then.
Commodore Dewey told me that the Foote was altogether inferior to
the Herreshoff boats. If this is so I wish it could be at least implied in the
report. I fear that the Bureaus of Construction and Engineering have done
the Navy real harm by their action toward the Herreshoffs.
Let me know if you wish to come on to Washington again in the course
of the investigation. I don't want you to be under any financial strain be-
cause of doing a needed and very important work for the Department; a
work which you are to complete without interference.
I am very glad that matters are coming out as they seem to be coming
according to your report. My own experience was that the immense mass
of the testimony was mere chaff, the few grains of wheat bearing no propor-
tion to it.
I enclose you a letter on behalf of Bowles. You are quite right in allow-
ing the utmost latitude of testimony, and in dividing the matter into two
branches, that referring to politicians, and that referring to the G.A.R. Evi-
dently from what you say the former have no cause for complaint, unless it
is lack of tact on Bowles's part in dealing with them. With the G.A.R. I
should have less hesitancy in recommending the reinstatement of men, but
of course not unless they really are entitled to the reinstatement. Be sure you
let me see you when you come here on Wednesday. If possible, arrange to
lunch with me at the Metropolitan Club that day; I shall count on you unless
I hear to the contrary. Faithfully yours
757 'TO WILLIAM FREELAND FULLAM RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, June 28, 1897
My dear Lieutenant Fullcan: I think you are quite right about that. Lobbying
is a disgrace, and I am rendered really uneasy by the effort to get influence
or "pull" for certain naval officers. As for the influence of college presidents
and the like, upon my word I fear we shall have to have a change in the
whole temper of our people before they understand that in military matters
only military men should be listened to, but I will do my part toward trying
to make them understand it. Sincerely yours
758 • TO SETH LOW Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, June 29, 1897
My dear Low: I don't know how permanent your present address is, so I
hardly venture to write to it. I quite share your dread of the next "ques-
633
tion." I wish to Heaven you could be spirited into the deep woods where
they could not ask you fool questions! It is really a little remarkable to me
that after the condemnation they all so properly visited on the Goo-Goo
ticket two years ago, they should now wish, from the best of motives, to
repeat the blunder on a large scale. I am in a quandary how to reach them.
If I should write to the ordinary member what I think, he would simply put
me down as a paid tool of Platt. Do you know any semirational leader to
whom it would be worth my while writing? Faithfully yours
759 • TO RICHARD WATSON GILDER RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Private and Confidential Washington, July i, 1897
My dear Gilder: I write you about a matter of very real importance in which
I wish you to bestir yourself actively, and I know you will be glad to do so.
It is about our friend Proctor, the Civil Service Commissioner. He is seri-
ously threatened with removal. It seems incredible, but evidently there has
been some pushing and intriguing on behalf of Rice,1 and as it is very un-
likely that two democrats will be allowed to stay on the Commission (and
indeed this would probably be undesirable) it now looks as though Proctor
might be turned out. The only thing that will save him is pressure, and
making the President feel that it would be highly impolitic and undesirable
to have him removed.
Of course you must treat what I say as entirely confidential, for I have
no business to speak of my chief in this way except in strict confidence, and
to a man whom I can trust.
Lodge will make all the fight he can for Proctor before the President,
and so will I, and I think that I can get Secretary Long to do something, but
we must have plenty of outside pressure. I am going to try to get Carl
Schurz to write. I want you to write the strongest letter you know how;
say you speak for all the educated and cultivated men, and all the believers
in civil service reform, and that you would feel that it was the greatest blow
to civil service reform which could be given if Proctor were turned out.
Don't bring in my name in any shape or way, for it would simply render
useless my efforts here, and I think you had better speak as if you took it
for granted he would be retained but wanted to write very strongly about
it. Then think over any men of real influence, and any men of big names in
either the business or literary world, or of prominence in civil service mat-
ters. If possible they should be of republican leanings. Have them make their
requests softly, but with the suggestion underneath that there will be trou-
ble, and a good deal of trouble, if Proctor is [to] be removed.
Action should be taken at once? "Faithfully yours
1 William G. Rice, a member of the Civil Service Commission.
1 Roosevelt wrote a similar letter to Seth Low on the same day.
634
760 • TO G. p. PUTNAM'S SONS Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, July i, 1897
Gentlemen: I have sent you by express the copy of the essays. Now I want
you again to be perfectly frank with me if you think that the essays will not
make a volume that will sell. Having looked at them all together I am rather
pleased with them myself, but an author is notoriously a poor judge of his
own performance. It is not for your interest, nor for mine, to have it issued
by you if you don't think you can make a moderate success of it. I would
of course rather have it go out by your firm than any other, but if you feel
that it is inadvisable to try it, it might be that Harpers' would care for it in
the series of volumes of essays by Brander Matthews, Cabot Lodge and
others, which they are now publishing. So answer perfectly frankly, and
without the slightest regard for my feelings. Also please tell me the terms
upon which you think they should be published. Very truly yours
761 • TO AVERY DE LANO ANDREWS Andrews MsS.°
Oyster Bay, July 7, 1897
Dear Andrews, Many thanks for the bound report; it is just what I wished.
I am snatching a few days here, on my way, first to the trial of the tor-
pedo boat Dupont at Newport; and then, towards the end of next week, to
inspect the Lake naval militia. Thursday next, the i5th, I shall be in New
York; can't you and Jacob Riis, to whom I have written, lunch with me that
day (trials or no trials) at one in the caf6 of the St. Denis? We three can
talk over everything freely. If Moss is all right, and wo'n't hamper us in our
talk, ask him, and Steffens too, to come there at 1.30; but I want a half hour
with you and Riis first; and do'n't ask either Moss or Steffens if you do'n't
care to. I do'n't want to go to headquarters; do tell Rathgeber to stop in to
shake hands. With warm regards to Mrs. Andrews, believe me, Faithftilly
yours
762 • TO JOHN WILLIAM FOX FOX MSS.°
Oyster Bay, July 24, 1897
Dear Fox, Both Mrs. Roosevelt and I are really impressed by the Kentuck-
ians1 — both numbers. It is far and away the best thing you have done; it is
very strong; you have dealt with the great basic feelings and passions, work-
ing in the surroundings which give them free play, which stamp them with
a peculiar individuality; and yet you have not made the great mistake of
overinsistence upon local color, of provincial assertion or apology in refer-
ence to the setting, which it is best to have peculiar to the soil, and yet which
should always be kept merely as a setting, the real interest lying in what
1 John Fox, Jr., The Kentuckians (New York, 1898).
635
belongs to all mankind, rather than to any one locality. I am greatly inter-
ested in the whole story; I think you have struck your gait!
By the way, as I told you I did'n't like one of Allen's books. I ought to
say that I much admire the Choir Invisible. Sincerely yours
763 • TO GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL RoOSevelt
Washington, August 2, 1897
My dear Grinnell: I have read through the article which I return. How old
is young Pierce? He writes as if he was not more than 14. Nevertheless there
is much of the article that is really interesting, notably photographing the
deer while it was held from the canoe, and some of the accounts of the dis-
tances at which the game was shot; but it needs merciless pruning. Wher-
ever the young idiot speaks of papa, father should of course be substituted,
and, if possible, the allusion should be left out altogether. It is not advisable
to put in nursery prattle. In the next place all of the would-be funny parts
must be cut out ruthlessly. If there exists any particularly vulgar horror on
the face of the globe it is the "funny" hunting story. This of course means
that we shall have to cut down the piece to about half its present length; but
if that is done I think it will be good.
In two or three days I shall send you my piece. Did you get the anno-
tated list of the Boone and Crockett books? Sincerely yours
764 • TO BOWMAN HENDRY MC CALLA RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, August 3, 1897
My dear Captain McCalla: I am very much obliged to you for sending me
that cutting, and for both of your letters. I think it far from improbable
that what you say about England's being behind both Japan and Spain is
correct. At the moment Japan is a more dangerous opponent than Spain;
but I entirely agree with you that Germany is the Power with which we
may very possibly have ultimately to come into hostile contact. How I wish
our people would wake up to the need for a big navy!
Thanking you for your courtesy in writing me, which I much appreci-
ate, I am, Very sincerely yours
765 • TO WILLIAM LAIRD CLOWES RoOSevelt M.SS.
Washington, August 3, 1897
My dear Mr. Clowes: I very earnestly hope that your health is a little better.
Mr. and Mrs. Cowles felt very uneasy about you when I read them your last
note. I don't know whether this climate would do you any good, but I wish
there were a chance of seeing you in America. I hardly know what to say,
636
for I do want you to go on with your work, and yet I don't think you ought
to put any needless strain on yourself.
I am sorry to say that at the moment there is a big hitch in our going on
with the building up of our Navy. The bulk of our people are curiously
ignorant of military and naval matters, and full of an ignorant self-confi-
dence, which is, I hope, the only quality they share with the Chinese. The
work on our three last battleships is at a standstill because Congress will not
permit us to pay a fair price for armor plate. By the way, I personally rather
regret that the 8-inch gun was taken off these battleships. It is to a certain
extent an armor piercer, and the 6-inch gun is not. I am glad you saw the
Brooklyn on the other side. I have just been inspecting her, together with
our ist and 2d-class battleships off Sandy Hook.
I hope you received my manuscript all right. Let me know when I am
going to have the proof; & tell me exactly what you think «of the articles
Sincerely yours
766 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, August 3, 1897
Dear Cabot: Yes indeed, the President has come out finely on the civil serv-
ice; and you will be pleased to hear that in a recent interview he told Proctor
that he should keep him when he reorganized the Commission. Proctor, by
the way, is very grateful to you, and fully appreciates all you have done for
him.
I entirely agree with you. We have every reason to be proud of what
the President and Congress have done during the five months of office; and
unquestionably times are improving. Of course to prophesy about our poli-
tics is a little like prophesying about a kaleidoscope, and no human being
can foretell anything with any accuracy; but it certainly seems to me as
though this administration was opening, unlike every other administration
of the last twenty years, with the prospects steadily brightening for its con-
tinuance during a second term.
I had a most interesting trip in the West among the Naval Militia, and
also at Newport and Sandy Hook. My speech to the Naval Reserve of Ohio
was entirely straight, and it was reported with substantial accuracy; but the
headlines and comments, for which I was in no way responsible, nearly
threw the Secretary into a fit, and he gave me as heavy a wigging as his
invariable courtesy and kindness would permit. I told him of course that I
was extremely sorry to have said anything of which he disapproved, and
that I would not do so under any consideration, but that at the same time I
thought what I said was, or ought to be, true, for most certainly the United
States ought to decide whether or not it will annex Hawaii wholly without
regard to the attitude of Japan or any other Power. I send you a clipping of
1 Lodge, 1, 267-269.
637
a kind of which I get many. By the way, in Ohio they were very anxious
that some action should be taken about Cuba. The President has done so
much that I don't feel like being discontented, but of course I do feel that
it would be everything for us to take firm action on behalf of the wretched
Cubans. It would be a splendid thing for the Navy, too. I am feeling rather
blue over the armor business. I am afraid it will be difficult for us to get
them to go on with the building up of the Navy, and if they stop I fear they
will never begin again.
I was immensely amused to see that Congressman Walker has announced
his intention of beating you for Senator. I think he has quite a job on hand,
and that your attitude can afford to be that of the Texan who examined the
tenderfoot's 32 calibre revolver — "Stranger, if you ever shot me with that,
and I knoitfd it, I would kick you all over Texas." I saw it stated that he
intended to use the Secretary against you as a candidate, but I don't believe
that the Secretary has the vaguest idea of running. However, it doesn't make
any matter who tries to run; it will amount to the same thing.
Edith is on here with me; and fortunately the weather is cool. She is
grappling with desperate energy with the new house and the old furniture.
The house will have a certain incongruous look next year, being furnished
scantily in some directions, and over-abundantly in others, but we are very
much pleased with it nevertheless. It seems very comfortable indeed, much
more so than our old one. When Edith goes I shall probably spend some of
the hot weather with Harry at the observatory.
It is a great relief to think of you as at last having a little rest and being
either at Nahant or at the Island. Give my warmest love to Nannie. Except
in general terms I never heard exactly how John passed, and as soon as you
find out what Bay intends to do, be sure to let us know. I wish very much
I could see Bay. Always yours
767 -TO JAMES HARRISON WILSON RoOSCVelt
Washington, August 4, 1897
My dear General: Of course I will let you know the first hint I get. I have
been sounding Judge Day,1 who is himself all right, but who is as much in
the dark as I am. Would you take China? I can't believe that they would
send such an absolute zany as Fred Grant to such an important place; but
still in politics all things are possible. Rockhill should of course have gone
there. He is wasted on Greece, as you say. I will let you know just as soon
as I hear anything. Very sincerely yours
1 William Rufus Day, in March 1897, after refusing various government posi-
tions, became Assistant Secretary of State. The following year, for a few months, he
served as Secretary of State. Without previous experience in diplomacy he handled
the different negotiations of these years with success. Later he became a member of
the Supreme Court.
638
768 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 5, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: I enclose you my report on the Naval Militia. I
don't suppose you will want to read it, and when I wrote my last letter I did
not think of sending it; but on second thoughts I guess I will, although I
can assure you that it contains nothing inflammable or incendiary about
Japan or any other forbidden topic. I have given copies to the different
newspapers, to be used Sunday morning, but with the distinct understanding
that this was to be only if you were willing. If you are unwilling just wire
me and I will stop the report going out.
Two or three papers have been writing to know if they cannot get repre-
sentatives on board the battleships during the fall cruise and maneuvering
of Admiral Sicard's squadron. Most captains object very much to newspaper-
men getting aboard, and if we grant special privileges to one paper we can't
well avoid granting them to others; and if we do it at all indiscriminately,
some of the newspapermen will be sure to write things that are not only
utterly untrue, but will have a very bad effect upon the public mind and
upon the discipline of the vessels. Accordingly I have a plan to recommend
to you, namely, that when I go down in the Dolphin, or whatever other
vessel I am on, to spend my three days with the fleet off Hampton Roads, I
shall take with me a couple of thoroughly trustworthy newspapermen to
represent both the Associated Press and all the papers not in the Associated
Press, so as to cover the entire press of the country. By this means the news-
papers will be able to tell all about the fleet, which will be a benefit to them
and a benefit to us, and yet nothing unpleasant or deleterious to the service
can occur. I dislike bothering you with any questions when you are away
on your holiday, but I thought I should not carry out this plan without sub-
mitting it to you, and seeing if you objected to it.
For the same reason I enclose you a letter from Cramp,1 with a report
from Captain O'Neil 2 upon it. I very urgently recommend that you allow
me to close with Cramp's offer, and Captain O'Neil and the Judge Advocate
General both urge this very strongly. Mr. Hichborn3 thinks that he could
probably go on with the construction even without the diagonal armor, but
I feel that this is very doubtful, and one of his most experienced assistants,
Mr. Hanscom, says it cannot be done. It seems to me that in view of the
importance of getting these vessels pushed forward with all possible rapid-
ity, we might expose ourselves to censure if we did not accept such an offer
1 Charles Henry Cramp, a partner in William Cramp & Sons, then the largest ship-
building enterprise in the United States.
8 Charles O'Neil, Captain, later Rear Admiral, US JST.; chief of the Bureau of Ord-
nance, 1897-1904.
'Philip Hichborn, Chief Constructor, U.SJN'., 1893-1901; inventor of the Hichborn
Balanced Turret.
639
as this of Mr. Cramp's. I regard the action of Congress as lamentable,4 but
I think that we can at least minimize the bad results if we push forward, as
rapidly as possible, all that can be pushed forward.
On receipt of Mr. Cramp's letter I at once signed the orders you had
prepared for the establishment of the board; but I have delayed signing the
letter to the Bureau of Construction and Repair until I could hear from you
about Mr. Cramp's offer, as it will make some slight difference in the terms.
Two or three small matters have come up, but nothing of sufficient im-
portance to bother you about. Captain Davis's report entirely sustains Con-
structor Bowles. Unless- you think otherwise I believe this report had better
be made public, because I think it is the only way to finally settle that Brook-
lyn Navy Yard matter. The service there has been rather demoralized by the
investigations following these repeated and groundless charges, and unless
you think to the contrary I shall decline again to reopen the matter.
Various questions of promotion have come up, and a number of people
have applied to me, notably, Miss Lee, of whom Captain Boutelle wrote, and
who, like Mr. Eliason (also of the Bureau of Ordnance) is well recom-
mended by the head of the office; but I have told them all that I should
prefer their waiting until you came back. I have made the same answer to
various requests to raise salaries.
I hope you are enjoying your vacation as much as you deserve to. Faith-
fully yours
769 ' TO JOHN DAVIS LONG RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, August 7, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: Yesterday Quigg came in to see me to say that he
hoped Lieutenant Wood would be given command of the torpedo boat
Dupont. I told him it was something with which I had nothing to do, and
that I had personally favored giving these boats to men like Winslow and
Smith, who were already proved to be of good capacity, inasmuch as I
thought that for our first torpedo-boat flotilla (the success or failure of
which would have a great effect upon the country) we should not follow
the ordinary rule of rotation. But I added that there were good reasons
against this policy and that these reasons had seemed conclusive with the
Department, so that, as I understood it, new men were to be put aboard
the boats; and also that there was a feeling in favor of putting Mr. Wood
on this boat, with which I heartily sympathized, as Mr. Wood is undoubt-
edly, though a young officer, an exceedingly competent man who deserves
well of the Department, for the excellent work he has been doing in super-
vising the completion of this very boat (the Dupont), as well as other
Herreshoff boats.
* A continuing disagreement in Congress over the price of armor pkte appeared to
endanger die shipbuilding program.
640
Roosevelt and the Three Thieves
Police Commissioner: "We did not single out any one interest;
we made war on all alike."
VVatcti
I enclose my finding on Davis's report and testimony. I do not send you
the report and testimony, because they would be altogether too long for you
to read, and with the first part of the finding itself I am sure you will agree.
The reason I send it to you is because I touch on the veteran question, which
I know must be handled with great care. The veterans have no just cause
for complaint whatever as regards the navy yards. On the contrary, our
error is in their favor. Menocal,1 the civil engineer, who does not impress
me at all favorably, stupidly put in his testimony that the veteran whom he
discharged and the three men whom he did not were all equally good, and
so I think this man should be reinstated and have so recommended. The
Veteran Committee, however, in the testimony, threaten to take the case
up higher than Davis. Davis had made a very strong attack on them in his
report, which I struck out, although it was entirely just. I thought I would
state the facts, and anticipate any possible action on their part in the way of
appeal to the President or Congress, by making such a statement as I have
herein made. It shows how much we are doing for the veterans, and shows
also that to do more would result in maladministration in the yards.
I have been looking up the post tradership question. I think we should
make a change, but in order to be sure of our ground I have directed the
new system, akin to that tried in the Army, to be first experimented with
for six months under Captain Cochrane at Newport. He is a man who be-
lieves in the change, and has already made it work. This will enable us to
put it in operation after its weak and strong points have been tested, and
we will know what we are about. Faithfully yours
P.S. I enclose letters from Captain Goodrich and Admiral Luce, which
explain themselves. I wrote to Captain Goodrich that it seemed to me the
second alternative — that of making the President of the War College the
Commandant of the Station — would be the best; that I saw no reasons
against it; though it would, of course, be referred to you, and that I should
do nothing in the matter excepting as you directed.
770 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, August 8, 1897
Dear Cabot, Edith has very nearly finished with the house, and will go back
to Oyster Bay in two or three days; most fortunately we have had really
cool weather, and she has actually enjoyed herself. (Nannie will smile in-
credulously and say: "poor dear!") Rockhill dines with us tonight; last
1Aniceto Garcia Menocal, a civil engineer in the Navy, made the early surveys of
Panama and Nicaragua in the seventies. As a result, he became a prime mover in the
attempt to obtain the Nicaraguan route for a canal. As early as 1880 he persuaded a
group, including U. S. Grant, to organize the Inter Oceanic Canal Society to further
his purpose. Throughout the next two decades his efforts in this direction were
unflagging. In 1897 he was on duty at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
1 Lodge, I, 270-271.
641
evening we dined at Overlook Inn, saw a lovely sunset, and had a beautiful
moonlight drive home; one night the Davises dined with us and went to see
an amusing farce; and another night we dined with them. They have a very
comfortable and indeed handsome house. Harry is in fine form. He said of
his predecessor: "[Pythian] is a Kentuckian; he had not a single book, and
he kept his chickens on the porch. He had for furniture in the dining room
an oak table, nine mahogany chairs, a black walnut bookcase, and a wash-
stand!" Harry made an excellent investigation at the Brooklyn navy yard;
but I had to do much cutting of his report, which contained a violent assault
on the G. A. R. and on all the Brooklyn Congressmen by name; together
with such sentences as "The military spirit is now totally extinct in the
American people." You probably recognize the style.
Our house will be furnished largely from the wreck of Edith's fore-
father's houses sixty years back, with an occasional relic of my own family
thrown in — all of the mesozoic or horse-hair furniture stage. We have come
across some lovely mementos of a bygone civilization; including especially
a number of stereopticon plates — "The Wedding Breakfast," "Dressing
the Bride," "Evening near Windsor Castle," or, varied with views of the
family tombs in Greenwood cemetery; which our ancestors always deemed
highly edifying.
I am, as usual very much interested and occupied with my work. I have
the armor board at work, and the cruising squadron of battleships and tor-
pedo boats under my eye. With the docks I have nothing to do; I believe
we need a radical revision of our whole dock system.
Edith and I were very glad to hear about Bay and John. Give our love
to Nannie. Yours
771 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 9, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: I ought not to have sent those papers to you, and
I won't send any like them again. I had my own very decided views about
the matter, but I was afraid they might by some chance conflict with yours.
However, I guess I know about what you wish, and I shan't send you any-
thing more unless it is really very important. You must be tired, and you
ought to have an entire rest. It has happened that at the very outset, under
this administration, the Secretary of the Navy has had much responsibility
thrust upon him.
I have got Kimball * and two of the men under him in the torpedo-boat
1 William Wirt Kimball, Lieutenant Commander, later Rear Admiral, U.S.N. His
primary interests were in ordnance and submarines. His friend J. P. Holland gave
him credit for "putting into practical shape and introducing" the submarine to the
Navy. At this time, having just been advanced to the rank of lieutenant commander
at the age of forty-nine, he was organizing the first torpedo-boat flotilla in the
United States Navy.
642
flotilla here, and am drawing out a kind of schedule for their cruise, consult-
ing Dickins2 as I do it. The armor board 8 is also here, and I have been in
consultation with them and have got matters going pretty well. I believe
there will be no difficulty with either.
I will take up the appointments with Mr. Peters,4 as you say, as soon as
he comes back, and will try to have it all off your hands when you return.
So far I have been very busy, but the other day I discovered by practical
experience what a delightful place the piazza or gallery in front of the main
reception room is. I sat there for about an hour, feeling like a gentleman of
most unlimited leisure.
With warm regards to Mrs. Long, believe me, Faithfully yours
772 • TO JOSEPH MURRAY RoOSCVelt
Personal Washington, August 1 1, 1897
Dear Joe: You are, as you always have been, a trump, but you utterly mis-
judge my chances and overestimate me. I am convinced that it would be
idle folly for me to think of that nomination. While I am sure I could get
along well with the smaller district leaders, yet there are some of the larger
men — including Senator Platt, Governor Black and probably Quigg, and
certainly Gruber and Lauterbach, not to speak of Lou Payn1 and Deacon
Hackett — who would under no circumstances consent to my candidacy;
and Platt would not tolerate either Lodge or Reed interfering in municipal
matters. He was angry with their interfering about my getting this position,
although he and I have been on very friendly terms since, and I believe he
is well enough satisfied with me here.
I think I was treated very badly by the organization during my two
years in New York. For this I care very little and it won't interfere with my
* Francis William Dickins, assistant to the chief of the Bureau of Navigation.
8 The cost of armor plate had for long been a source of dispute between Congress
and the two steel companies (Carnegie Steel and Bethlehem Steel) that had erected
armor plants. These companies had been charging the government between $550 and
$600 a ton in the years immediately preceding 1897. Congress, under the leadership
of Senators Chandler and Tillman, succeeded in reducing the price of armor to
$300 a ton, over the strenuous opposition of Senators Gorman and Quay. The Secre-
tary of the Navy at the same time was directed by Congress to investigate the pos-
sibility of building a government-owned factory. As a result, a board of naval
officers was appointed to visit various steel and kon localities in the hope of dis-
covering a desirable location for an armor plant. No action was taken on their
report, and the steel companies, serene in the absence of competition, refused to bid
at the price fixed by Congress. The difficulty over armor prices continued into the
next century.
* Benjamin F. Peters, chief clerk of the Navy Department.
1 Louis F. Payn, an adroit lobbyist in Albany and faithful lieutenant of Platt. He had
been a familiar figure in New York politics since 1860. He is said to have received
$100,000 in return for services performed for Jay Gould. To Elihu Root he was "a
stench in the nostrils of the people."
643
relations toward any but ae few men. There are a few whom I shall not be
likely to forgive. The point, however, is that these men would not consent
to my candidacy. I believe that most of the district leaders were misled. I
am glad they are beginning to understand that if they had treated me fairly,
I would have done for them all that an honest man could; but the big men
who will control the nomination would never in the world dream of having
me nominated, and indeed I think there is but one man in New York who
would really desire it, and the name of that misguided person is the same as
that of one of the ex-presidents of the Excise Board.
By the way, I was very much pleased at Miss Kelly's being kept. I sup-
pose she is getting along all right from what I can hear. Faithfully yours
773 • TO CECIL ARTHUR SPRING RICE Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 13, 1897
Dear Cecil: Your letter was very interesting. I find the typewriter a comfort,
and indeed when I have to carry on so much official correspondence it is
the only way I have to write at all at length. I don't know whether I sent
you a copy of my address at Newport, so I send one to you now. I don't
think that even you can complain of the way I speak of England, and with
a change of names it seems to me to be just the kind of doctrine that you
preach to your people. I am very certain that both of our peoples need to
have this kind of view impressed upon them.
I have not seen Bay. If he has sufficiently recovered from the Brooks
Adams influence to be rational I should much like to talk with him, for he
is an able young fellow.
You happen to have a mind which is interested in precisely the things
which interest me, and which I believe are of more vital consequence than
any other to the future of the race and of the world; so naturally I am de-
lighted to hear from you, and I always want to answer your letters at length.
Did I tell you that I met such a nice Englishman here, named Spencer
Walpole? * He also is interested in the same problems.
In a couple of months I shall send you the collection of my essays, simply
because I want you to read my reviews of Pearson's book,2 and of Kidd's
Social Evolution. I have not heard from Laird Clowes since I sent him my
piece on the War of 1812 for his book, so I don't know whether he thought
it satisfactory or not. / did! or I would not have sent it.
Before speaking of the Russians and of their attitude toward us, a word
about the Germans. I am by no means sure that I heartily respect the little
Kaiser, but in his colonial plans I think he is entirely right from the stand-
point of the German race. International law, and above all interracial law,
1 Sir Spencer Walpole, historian and civil servant, son of Spencer Horatio Walpole.
1 Charles Henry Pearson, National Life and Character; a Forecast (New York, 1894) ;
reviewed by Theodore Roosevelt, Sewanee Review, 2:353-376 (May 1894).
644
are still in a fluid condition, and two nations with violently conflicting in-
terests may each be entirely right from its own standpoint. If I were a Ger-
man I should want the German race to expand. I should be glad to see it
begin to expand in the only two places left for the ethnic, as distinguished
from the political, expansion of the European peoples; that is, in South
Africa and temperate South America. Therefore, as a German I should be
delighted to upset the English in South Africa, and to defy the Americans
and their Monroe Doctrine in South America. As an Englishman, I should
seize the first opportunity to crush the German Navy and the German
commercial marine out of existence, and take possession of both the German
and Portuguese possessions in South Africa, leaving the Boers absolutely
isolated. As an American I should advocate — and as a matter of fact do
advocate — keeping our Navy at a pitch that will enable us to interfere
promptly if Germany ventures to touch a foot of American soil. I would
not go into the abstract rights or wrongs of it; I would simply say that we
did not intend to have the Germans on this continent, excepting as immi-
grants whose children would become Americans of one sort or another, and
if Germany intended to extend her empire here she would have to whip us
first.
I am by no means sure that either your people or mine have the nerve
to follow this course; but I am absolutely sure that it is the proper course
to follow, and I should adopt it without in the least feeling that the Ger-
mans who advocated German colonial expansion were doing anything save
what was right and proper from the standpoint of their own people. Na-
tions may, and often must, have conflicting interests, and in the present age
patriotism stands a good deal ahead of cosmopolitanism.
Now, the reason why I don't think so much of the Kaiser is that it
seems to me Germany ought not to try to expand colonially at our expense
when she has Russia against her flank and year by year increasing in rela-
tive power. Of course if Germany has definitely adopted the views which
some of the Greek States, like the Achaean League, adopted toward Rome
after the second Punic War, I have nothing to say. These Greek States made
up their mind that Rome had the future and could not be striven against,
but they decided to take advantage of whatever breathing space was given
them by warring on any power which Rome did not choose to befriend,
hoping that Rome might perhaps spare them, and that meanwhile they would
stand high compared to all the States but Rome. If Germany feels this way
toward Russia, well and good; but if she does not feel this way, then every
year she waits to strike is just so much against her. If the Kaiser were a
Frederick the Great or a Gustavus Adolphus; if he were a Cromwell, a Pitt,
or, like Andrew Jackson, had the "instinct for the jugular," he would recog-
nize his real foe and strike savagely at the point where danger threatens.
A few years ago Germany could certainly have whipped Russia, even
if, in conjunction with Austria and Italy, she had had to master France also.
645
Of course it would be useless to whip her without trying to make the whip-
ping possibly permanent by building up a great Polish buffer State, making
Finland independent or Swedish, taking the Baltic Provinces, etc. This
would have been something worth doing; but to run about imprisoning
private citizens of all ages who do not speak of "Majesty" with bated breath
seems to me foolish, at this period of the world's progress. That the Ger-
mans should dislike and look down upon the Americans is natural. Ameri-
cans don't dislike the Germans, but so far as they think of them at all they
look upon them with humorous contempt. The English-speaking races may
or may not be growing effete, and may or may not ultimately succumb to
the Slav; but whatever may happen in any single war they will not ultimately
succumb to the German, and a century hence he will be of very small con-
sequence compared to them.
Of course the Kaiser objects to liberalism in his country. Liberalism has
some great vices, and the virtues which in our opinion outweigh these vices
might not be of weight in Germany.
Now, about the Russians, who offer a very much more serious problem
than the Germans, if not to our generation, at least to the generations which
will succeed us. Russia and the United States are friendly, but Russians and
Americans, in their individual capacity, have nothing whatever in common.
That they despise Americans in a way is doubtless true. I rather doubt if
they despise Europeans. Socially, the upper classes feel themselves akin to
the other European upper classes, while they have no one to feel akin to
in America. Our political corruption certainly cannot shock them, but our
political institutions they doubtless both despise and fear. As for our attitude
toward them, I don't quite take your view, which seems to be, after all,
merely a reflection of theirs. Evidently you look upon them as they think
they should be looked upon — that is as huge, powerful barbarians, cyni-
cally confident that they will in the end inherit the fruits of our civilization,
firmly believing that the future belongs to them, and resolute to develop
their own form of government, literature and art; despising as effete all of
Europe and especially America. I look upon them as a people to whom we
can give points, and a beating; a people with a great future, as we have; but
a people with poisons working in it, as other poisons, of similar character
on the whole, work in us.
Well, there is a certain justification for your view, but the people who
have least to fear from the Russians are the people who can speak English.
They may overrun the continent of Europe, but they cannot touch your
people or mine, unless perhaps in India. There is no such difference between
them and us as there was between the Goths and Byzantines; it will be
many a long year before we lose our capacity to lay out those Goths. They
are below the Germans just as the Germans are below us; the space beween
the German and the Russian may be greater than that between the English-
man and the German, but that is all. We are all treading the same path,
646
some faster, some slower; and though the Russian started far behind, yet
he has traveled that path very much farther and faster since the days of
Ivan the Terrible than our people have traveled it since the days of Eliza-
beth. He is several centuries behind us still, but he was a thousand years
behind us then. He may develop his own art and his own literature, but
most assuredly they will be developed on European models and along Euro-
pean lines, and they will differ from those of other European nations
no more than Macaulay and Turner differ from Ariosto and Botticelli
— nor will his government escape the same fate. While he can keep ab-
solutism, no matter how corrupt, he will himself possess infinite possi-
bilities of menace to his neighbors; but as sure as fate, in the end, when
Russia becomes more thickly populated, when Siberia fills with cities and
settled districts, the problems which in different forms exist in the free re-
public of the United States, the free monarchy of England, the free com-
monwealths of Australia, the unfree monarchy of Prussia, the unfree Re-
public of France and the heterogeneous empire of Austria, will also have
to be faced by the Russian. The nihilist is the socialist or communist in an
aggravated form. He makes but a small class; he may temporarily disappear;
but his principles will slowly spread. If Russia chooses to develop purely
on her own line and to resist the growth of liberalism, then she may put
off the day of reckoning; but she cannot ultimately avert it, and instead of
occasionally having to go through what Kansas has gone through with the
populists she will sometime experience a red terror which will make the
French Revolution pale. Meanwhile one curious fact is forgotten: The Eng-
lish-speaking people have never gone back before the Slav, and the Slav has
never gone back before them save once. Three-quarters of a century ago
the Russians meant that Northwestern America should be Russian, and our
Monroe Doctrine was formulated as much against them as against the other
reactionaries of continental Europe. Now the American has dispossessed
the Russian. Thirty years ago there were thirty thousand people speaking
more or less Russian in Alaska. Now there are but a few hundreds. The
American — the man of the effete English-speaking races — has driven the
Slav from the eastern coast of the North Pacific.
What the Russian thinks of us — or indeed what any European thinks
of us — is of small consequence. What we are is of great consequence; and
I wish I could answer you with confidence. Sometimes I do feel inclined to
believe that the Russian is the one man with enough barbarous blood in him
to be the hope of a world that is growing effete. But I think that this
thought comes only when I am unreasonably dispirited.
The one ugly fact all over the world is the diminution of the birth rate
among the highest races. It must be remembered, however, that Ireland has
shown conclusively, as Italy still shows, that a very large birth rate may
mean nothing whatever for a race; and looking at the English-speaking
people I am confident that as yet any decadence is purely local.
647
The growth of liberalism undoubtedly unfits us for certain work. I don't
like the look of things in India for instance. It seems to me the English posi-
tion there is essentially false, unless they say they are there as masters who
intend to rule justly, but who do not intend to have their rule questioned.
If the English in India would suppress promptly any native newspaper that
was seditious; arrest instantly any seditious agitator; put down the slightest
outbreak ruthlessly; cease to protect usurers, and encourage the warlike
races so long as they were absolutely devoted to British rule, I believe things
would be much more healthy than they are now.
As for my own country, it is hard to say. We are barbarians of a cer-
tain kind, and what is most unpleasant we are barbarians with a certain
middle-class, Philistine quality of ugliness and pettiness, raw conceit, and
raw sensitiveness. Where we get highly civilized, as in the northeast, we seem
to become civilized in an unoriginal and ineffective way, and tend to die
out. Nevertheless, thanks to the men we adopt, as well as to the children
we beget, it must be remembered that actually we keep increasing at about
twice the rate of the Russians; and though the commercial and cheap al-
truistic spirit, the spirit of the Birmingham school, the spirit of the banker,
the broker, the mere manufacturer, and mere merchant, is unpleasantly
prominent, I cannot see that we have lost vigor compared to what we were
a century ago. If anything I think we have gained it. In politicial matters
we are often very dull mentally, and especially morally; but even in polit-
ical matters there is plenty of rude strength and I don't think we are as
badly off as we were in the days of Jefferson, for instance. We are certainly
better off than we were in the days of Buchanan. During recent years I have
seen a great deal of the New York Police Force, which is a very powerful,
efficient and corrupt body, and of our Navy, which is a powerful, efficient
and honorable body. I have incidentally seen a great deal of the constructors
who build the ships, and the public works, of the civil engineers, the dock
builders, the sailors, the workmen in the iron foundries and shipyards. These
represent, all told, a very great number of men, and the impression left upon
my mind, after intimate association with the hundreds of naval officers, naval
constructors, and civil engineers, and the tens of thousands of seamen and
mechanics and policemen, is primarily an impression of abounding force, of
energy, resolution and decision. These men are not effete, and if you com-
pare the Russians with them (and of course exactly the same thing would
be true if you compared the Russians with corresponding Englishmen) I
think you would become convinced that the analogy of the Goth and the
Byzantine is forced. These men would outbuild, outadminister and outfight
any Russians you could find from St. Petersburg to Sebastopol or Vladivos-
tock — if that's the way you spell it. I doubt if our Presidents are as effete
as the average Czar or Russian minister. I believe our Generals and Admirals
are better; and so, with all their hideous faults, our public administrators.
Of course both the English and the Americans are less ruthless, and have
648
the disadvantages of civilization. It may be that we are going the way of
France, but just at present I doubt it, and I still think that though the people
of the English-speaking races may have to divide the future with the Slav,
yet they will get rather more than their fair share.
To drop from questions of empire to those of immediate personal in-
terest, I am immensely interested in my work here. I think on the whole
I enjoy it rather more than anything I have ever done. It is a cool summer.
We have a very nice house just opposite the British Embassy. Mrs. Roose-
velt has been spending ten days here furnishing it with fragments fifty or
sixty years old from our ancestral houses — said fragments representing the
haircloth furniture (or unpolished stone) period of New York semicivili-
zation.
Aside from my work I have been able to do two or three things which
gratify me immensely, for I was mainly instrumental in getting Proctor
retained as Civil Service Commissioner, and in having Rockhill kept in the
diplomatic service as Minister to Greece.
I spent three weeks at Oyster Bay and had a lovely time. Counting my
own children and their little cousins, there are now sixteen small Roosevelts
there, and one day I took the twelve eldest on a picnic. Always yours
[Handwritten] P. S. Mrs. Roosevelt sends you her love, and wishes to
know whether you would be very good and write out the lovely ballad of
"Hurry my Johnny, the jungle's afire" for her? The children are always
asking for it.
774 • TO CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS RoOSCVelt MsS.
Washington, August 13, 1897
My dear Senator: At last! This time I am in sole command, and your re-
quest goes through. The enclosed memorandum will show the hitch, and
I am not very certain that my conduct will be approved, but I made up my
mind that as the difficulty was really only technical, for the boy had sent
in his application well beforehand, I would have the order dated back and
I sent back the memorandum to the Bureau of Navigation with that instruc-
tion, so now it is all right. I only wish it were in my power to deal in the
same way with our Duluth friend who wishes to be a shipkeeper, but the
Secretary has left explicit instructions not to do anything with the ship-
keepers. Of course treat this letter as private. Faithfully yours
775 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 13, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: — You must not answer my letters because then I
shall feel that I ought not to send them to you, for I don't want you to be
bothered at all; but I just want to tell you how things are going.
649
The torpedo-boat flotilla matter is in full swing, Captain Dickins, Com-
mander Kimball and myself meeting continually. We have very nearly per-
fected the plan. I am studying the dry-dock question,1 merely so that I may
be able to answer you to the best of my ability if you want to question me
about it when you come back.
The Union Iron Works people are doubtless going to do just what Cramp
did with their battleship. I have not heard a word from the Newport News
people, and I am inclined to think that they are rather glad to let their ship
lie idle while they finish the Kear surge and Kentucky.
The Bureaus of Ordnance and Construction have had one of the charac-
teristic and absurd bureau rows over who should carry on certain corre-
spondence, but I have settled it. The Acting Chief of the Bureau of Con-
struction, Taylor,2 is rather fresh.
Chief Engineer Melville is now looking over that proposed scheme for
uniting the Line and Staff and putting an end to the quarrels. I don't know
whether it will come to anything or not.
I have had a good many conferences with the Armor Board, and I think
they are starting off in the right style. Faithfully yours
776 • TO JAMES ALFRED ROOSEVELT RoOSCVelt
Washington, August 14, 1897
Dear Uncle Jim: I am very much obliged to you. As for the property tax,
you know about it as well as I do. I am assessed, however, as much again
as the property and buildings cost me and I could not begin to get that
amount in open market.
Now, as to my personal tax: That again is put on me much heavier than
it used to be in New York, and I adhere to New York as my place of
abode, so I shan't pay any in Oyster Bay. I have been voting in New York
for the past two years, and that has been my residence. I am very much
obliged to you for taking this trouble.
By the way, did you see the photographs of all the children which were
taken that day you and I and Emlen were up around the old barn? They
seemed to me very good and very funny. Faithfully yours
1The Report of the Bureau of Yards and Docks in 1897 indicated that of eleven
government docks, nine on the Atlantic, two on the Pacific, only three were de-
signed to accommodate battleships of the first class. During 1897, when the New
York dock was undergoing repairs for nine months, it was discovered that the dock
at Port Royal, S.C., was too small to admit battleships. Thus, throughout the year,
there was only one dock, at Puget Sound, capable of taking care of the battle fleet.
The Bureau of Yards and Docks recommended that large dry docks be built at
Boston, New York, Norfolk, Port Royal, New Orleans, and Mare Island.
* David Watson Taylor, the distinguished naval constructor for whom the Taylor
Model Basin in Washington is named.
650
777 * TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August i «5», 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: As soon as I received your letter I got Mr. Peters
in and we went into solemn conclave over Wilson. Neither Mr. Snyder nor
Mr. Finney1 is here, so I could not get the correspondence you referred to
about the Portsmouth cases but it does seem to me that the President's re-
cent order bars us out from dismissing anyone merely to make room for
a veteran. I don't see how we could do this save by a most strained con-
struction of the order — a construction so strained that if treated as a prec-
edent it might involve the absolute disregard of the order. I have been
writing to the navy yard about the <situation» already, on receipt of your
letter last week. I also looked up my report on the yard. I find that in it
I recommended the dismissal of two men on the statement of Mr. Hichborn,
the naval constructor, that they were inefficient. This Mr. Hichborn is a
brother of our Mr. Hichborn, but he seems to be rather a weak vessel, and
he has not stood up to his recommendations to me in his efficiency reports;
for though he has put the men down at almost the foot of the list, he gives
them a trifle above 70 per cent, for quality and quantity of work combined,
and the Commandant of the yard reports that there are to be no changes
in the immediate future. I shall go over all these reports of efficiency from
the different navy yards in the course of a few days with Peters, and can
then form a better idea as to whether we would be justified in making any
dismissals in Boston. If not, I suppose all that can be done for Wilson is to
put him in the first vacancy that occurs; at any rate I will give you the full
details of the case as soon as I find them.
The Herreshoffs have been behaving in a very foolish manner about the
Duponty and have had a great muss with the engineer of our Board. As you
know, I have been prejudiced in the Herreshoffs' favor, but in this instance
they are unquestionably and absolutely wrong, and I have simply stood by
the engineer and have so notified Commodore Dewey and the Herreshoffs.
Now I will wait and see what they do.
Admiral Bunce came on here today and I have been going over the dry-
dock question, both particularly about New York, and generally about the
country at large, with him, as well as with Captain Dickins, Captain Chad-
wick, and Naval Constructor Dashiell.
I hope you are having a very pleasant time, and if things go on as they
are now there isn't the slightest earthly reason for you to come back for
six weeks more. With neither the President nor Congress in town, and no
important question up, and an Assistant Secretary of chastened spirit in
charge, you ought to take a good long holiday with a light heart!
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Long and the Miss Longs. My sister,
1 Lewis H. Finney, Jr., private secretary to the Secretary of the Navy.
Mrs. Cowles, wrote me how glad she was to see you at Newport. Ever
faithfully yours
778-10 PAUL DANA Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 16, 1897
My dear Mr. Dana: I write this to you as the Editor of the Sun1 simply so
that if you are absent whoever is taking your place may open it. The first
week in September I am going down to Newport News to spend three days
watching the maneuvers of our squadron of battleships out at sea. I shall
probably go from one to another, using either the Dolphin or some tug to
get to and from the fleet. Now, I thought I would like to take a couple of
newspapermen with me. I won't be able to take more than two, and of
course they must be men whom I can trust and who are decent fellows.
One would have to be an Associated Press man, and the other I should like
to have a Sun man, who will go nominally to represent the non-Associated
Press papers. I suppose as a matter of fact you would find it very easy to
arrange to give them whatever news they would require. Your correspond-
ent up here at the Navy Department, Mr. Oulahan2 is a gentleman and a
thoroughly trustworthy fellow, and I should be delighted to have him un-
less, of course, you prefer somebody else. I can't make this arrangement
definitely at present, but I think I can put it through.
I have just been doing something interesting by looking up what all the
Presidents, from Washington through Andrew Jackson and Lincoln to
McKinley, have said about building up our Navy. And I have strung them
together with an introduction. I hope to make it an article for the Naval
Institute or something of the kind, and if I do I shall send a copy to the Sun
before it is published, to be used or not as you see fit. I am rather afraid
that there is a very foolish feeling growing that we now have enough of
a Navy, Tom Reed, I am sorry to say, being one of the men who have
given expression to this feeling. It would be horrible folly to stop building
up our Navy now.
I am here for a couple of months, but I really don't mind it, because I
am so interested in the work. Faithfully yours
779 • TO NOBLE c. BUTLER Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 16, 1897
My dear Mr. Butler: You and I do feel alike on most matters, and I think
I may say it is because we possess both common sense and a disinterested
JPaul Dana succeeded his father, Charles A. Dana, as editor of the New York SUTJ
in 1897, retiring from that position in 1903. During his editorship the Sun was a
consistent supporter of conservative Republican policies.
•Richard Victor Oulahan, then a veteran of a decade of newspaper work, became,
as the Washington correspondent of the New York Times, one of the deans of the
American press.
6*2
purpose to work for the best. All that you say about the red tape business
is entirely true. Long years ago I said that the danger in our civil service
was from the red tape, bureaucratic, martinet work of men who care nothing
for the case but everything for the documents in the case — who mind very
little what the result is so long as the papers about the result have the proper
endorsements and are filed in the proper pigeonhole.
I intend to go a good deal farther in doing away with this red tape
business if I am permitted.
I look forward to seeing you here. Sincerely yours
780 • TO PHILIP HENRY COOPER Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, August 17, 1897
My dear Sir: * I have read your letter with great care. I cannot help think-
ing that you and Colonel Ernst2 could without difficulty enter into an agree-
ment providing that there should be no practice at other times than recrea-
tion hours, that no drills, exercises or recitations should be omitted and that
the football players should be strictly marked, the academic routine stricdy
followed, and betting, drinking, and the like rigidly discouraged. In other
words, I don't see why the cadets cannot be made to meet one another ex-
actly as they meet outside college students. If this were done, moreover,
I do not understand why a year's time should be necessary for training. I
should think a month would be ample. I shall write to the Secretary of
War and try to find out the views of Colonel Ernst. Very sincerely yours
781 -TO RUSSELL ALEXANDER ALGER RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, August 17, 1897
My dear General Alger: * For what I am about to write you I think I should
have the backing of my fellow-Harvard man, your son. I should like very
much to revive the football games between Annapolis and West Point. I
think the Superintendent of Annapolis, and I dare say Colonel Ernst, the
Superintendent of West Point, will feel a little shaky because undoubtedly
formerly the academic routine was cast to the winds when it came to these
matches, and a good deal of disorganization followed. But it seems to me that
if we would let Colonel Ernst and Captain Cooper come to an agreement
that the match should be played just as either eleven plays outside teams;
1 Philip Henry Cooper, Captain, later Rear Admiral, U.S.N., superintendent of the
Naval Academy, 1894-1898.
2 Oswald Herbert Ernst, Major General, U.SA., superintendent of the United States
Military Academy, 1893-1898.
1 Russell Alexander Alger, wealthy resident of Michigan, army officer in the Civil
War, Governor of Michigan, 1885-1887, commander in chief or the Grand Army of
the Republic, 1889. He was Secretary of War from 1897 until 1899 when he "re-
signed" under a rising tide of hostile criticism of his administration of the Army
during the Spanish-American War.
that no cadet should be permitted to enter or join the training table if he
was unsatisfactory in any study or conduct, and should be removed if
during the season he becomes unsatisfactory; if they were marked with-
out regard to their places on the team; if no drills, exercises or recita-
tions were omitted to give opportunities for football practice; and if the
authorities of both institutions agreed to take measures to prevent any
excesses such as betting and the Eke, and to prevent any manifestations of
an improper character — if as I say all this were done — and it certainly
could be done without difficulty — then I don't see why it would not be
a good thing to have a game this year.
If you think favorably of the idea, will you be willing to write Colonel
Ernst about it? Faithfully yours
782 -TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, August 17, 1897
Dear Cabot: — I have had a delightful few days with Harry. Day after to-
morrow he goes off, and I shall be alone. The evenings are not particularly
exhilarating, but the days I like, as I really am accomplishing a certain
amount. Having done away with the needless paper work on the torpedo
boats, I have now put Harry on a board to do the same things for the battle-
ships and cruisers. I have also started a board on the question of dry docks.
I don't know whether the Secretary will wish any information about these
or not, but when he comes back I am going to have a definite plan to pro-
pose to him; and, what's more, a plan that will work. I acted on my own
responsibility with the diagonal armour, for I found that the Secretary had
feared to allow them to complete the armour unless they completed all, but
he has been most kind, and acquiesced in what I did. I haven't a doubt on
the subject myself, for it means the saving of nearly a year's work, and will
be of very great importance. My torpedo-boat flotilla is in fine shape. Of
the six torpedo boats they have got only two with the proper commanders,
which is a real misfortune, but still, though I can't get the best work out
of the flotilla, I shall get pretty good work. I have spent my spare hours in
getting together a most interesting series of quotations from the messages
of the Presidents to Congress on behalf of the Navy. In some form or other
I am going to try and have them made public. The first week in September
I hope to spend three days with the squadron of battleships off Hampton
Roads. From all of which you can readily gather that I am really enjoying
my work.
I am very much pleased that you are loafing, and I am sure that you will
very soon be yourself again. Any man who throws himself with such in-
tense energy into his work as you do, and who therefore accomplishes so
much, must pay the penalty in one way or another, especially if he not only
1 Lodge, I, 271-272.
does things, but -feels them. I am also glad that you are working a little at
your revolutionary piece. I think that's going to be one of the most suc-
cessful things you have ever done. By the way, I had a long and very pleas-
ant letter from Senator Chandler the other day, in which he spoke with
delight of your Webster and Hamilton, but especially your Webster. I am
correcting the proof of my essays.
That good times are coming is now beyond a doubt. Wheat and gold
together, and the fact that the tariff is out of the way, and the uneasiness
abroad, all help. I am particularly glad for the sake of the contest in Ohio.
Faithfully yours
783 -TO JOHN DAVIS LONG R.M.A. MSS.
Washington, August 19, 1897
Decor Mr. Secretary: I have been very busy, much to my delight, for I per-
fectly revel in this work, but nothing has come up which was both doubtful
and important enough for me to feel that I was warranted in bothering you.
784 • TO BELLAMY STOKER RoOS€Velt MSS.
Washington, August 19, 1897
Dear Bellamy: It was delightful to catch a glimpse of your familiar hand-
writing, but it makes me a little melancholy to think that you are away
from Washington in all probability for the entire time we shall be here, and
we shall miss you both all the time; and when I say "we" I mean not only
Mrs. Roosevelt and myself, but the children.
I will try to get you that report at once and have it sent out. I do not
think there will be any trouble about the matter.
I don't wonder that foreigners should giggle at our having to send our
battleship to be docked abroad. It is highly discreditable. I have a board on
docks busily at work now, of course dry docks take time. Incidentally it
would be quite like our people, having provided us battleships with no dry
docks, to now, in a burst of patriotism, provide a lot of dry docks and stop
building battleships. Why this nation ever does live at all sometimes seems
puzzling.
The Secretary is away, and I am having immense fun running the Navy.
I am absorbed in my work. It is delightful to be dealing with matters of
real moment and of great interest, and at the same time with men who are
not unadulterated scoundrels.
Mrs. Roosevelt spent ten days here getting the house in order. Now she
has gone back to a home which possesses the modified happiness compatible
with the existence of whooping cough among my infernal children.
Give my love to Mrs. Storer, and with warm regards, I am, as ever, Yours
[Handwritten] P. S. I called on Bishop Keane yesterday; I think I shall
have some photos of the children to send you soon.
785 • TO CHARLES ADDISON BOUTELLE RoOSCVClt MsS.
Washington, August 21, 1897
My dear Mr. Boittelle: I am writing you simply because I would like
to have you know what the Department is doing. We have arranged for
a squadron of ironclads, both battleships and armored cruisers, to practice,
maneuvering as a squadron, and with the great guns, during September.
While they are off Hampton Roads I shall try to get down and see them.
We have also arranged for an elaborate cruise of the torpedo-boat flotilla,
so as to initiate a school of torpedo-boat work. I have dock board at work
considering the whole question of dry docks. One of them is taking a trip
to the chief dry docks of France, England and Germany; and we shall be
able to report in full to you when Congress meets. I have also got a board
at work reducing the amount of paper work, that is, the number of reports,
etc., required of the captains. At present this paper work takes up most of
their time to the exclusion of the duties they should perform while in com-
mand of their vessels. One of the best changes that has been introduced is
the providing for gun captains, so as to keep up the practice of our crews
to the proper standpoint with both the great guns and the secondary bat-
tery. I am hard at work trying to get some bill which will do away with
the friction between the line and the engineers. I will submit it to you as
soon as I can get it into something like the shape it should be in, and of
course subject to the Secretary's approving it. At present I am getting the
greatest variety of opinions on it from the different officers. The armor
board has begun its labors, and of course is being deluged with all kinds of
propositions.
With regard, Very sincerely yours
786 • TO JAMES HARRISON WILSON RoOSevelt
Washington, August 23, 1897
My dear General: That's a very interesting letter of Goldwin Smith's, and
there is much of it with which I entirely agree; but he is all out as to the
bearing of the Indiana incident. It was distinctly mortifying, and it is indic-
ative of the foolishness with which our people go to work; but it doesn't
in the least show that it is too late for us to build up the Navy. All that
it shows is that we should build dry docks as well as battleships, the dry
docks, incidentally, being much easier to build. We cannot rival England as
a naval power. I do not think we ought to rival France; but I do think we
ought to stand ahead of Germany. Russia we need hardly consider, as she
has a threefold seafront and would hardly menace us.
I wish I could come up next Sunday, but it is out of the question; and
the Sunday after I shall probably be down with the squadron, but a little
656
later I very possibly could get up, and, if so, I should be more than de-
lighted. Faithfully yours
787 -TO GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, August 24, 1897
My dear Grinnell: Beyond one or two slight verbal changes I have nothing
serious to suggest about the preface, excepting on one point. This is in ref-
erence to the forestry business. I wish to say in substance exactly what you
have said, but I think there should be a more just division of praise. It was
a serious matter taking this great mass of forest reservations away from the
settlers. That it needed to be done admits of no question, but the great bulk
of the people themselves strongly objected to its being done; and a great
deal of nerve and a good deal of tact were needed in accomplishing it. I
am exceedingly glad that President Cleveland issued the order; but none of
the trouble came on him at all. He issued the order at the very end of his
administration, practically to take effect in the next administration.1 In other
words he issued an order which it was easy to issue, but difficult to execute,
and which had to be executed by his successor. This is a perfectly common
thing; in civil service matters, for instance, I have seen it done by Presidents
Arthur, Harrison and Cleveland; in fact by every outgoing President since
the civil service law went into effect At present it seems to be about the
only way we can get ahead on certain lines; for the President who is not
willing to do the thing himself, is glad enough to direct that his successor
shall do it; and the latter, who probably would not have the nerve to do
it, in his turn makes the excuse to the foes of the reform that he can't go
back on what his predecessor did. I think that credit should be given the
man who issues the order, but I think it should be just as strongly given
to the man who enforces it. Cleveland had issued the order without con-
sulting the Senators and Congressmen who were all powerful in the matter
of legislation, and if he had stayed in power the order would have been
promptly nullified. President McKinley and Secretary Bliss took the matter
up, and by great resolution finally prevented its complete overthrow. It
was impossible to expect its going into effect at once. Not a dozen men in
the Senate were for it, and all of these were from the far west. Now, the
point I want to make is that quite as much is owing to McKinley as to Cleve-
land in the matter, and I think that either we should not mention either of
them, or we should mention both. What Cleveland did was very easy to
do; for it is not at all difficult to say that your successor must be virtuous.
McKinley had to encounter real opposition. If this country could be ruled
1 On February 22, 1897, Cleveland by proclamation established thirteen new forest
reserves (21,000,000 acres of timberland) in the Pacific Northwest. These tracts, to
the consternation of the citizens of the area, were withdrawn from entry of sale
save in exceptional cases. The episode and its attendant public reaction is fully
described in Roy M. Robbins, Our Landed Heritage (Princeton, 1942), pp. 314-321.
by a benevolent czar we would doubtless make a good many changes for
the better, but as things are, if we want to accomplish anything, we have
got to get the best work we can out of the means that are available. All
of this is a needless homily. The only point is that I wish you would revise
the sentence about that reservation, so as either to make it more general or
more fully specific.
If you will send me on Pierce's article I will slash it up into about a
third of the space it now occupies, and send it back to you.
I also made a slight change in what you say about hunting stories, as you
will see; your endorsement of the «camels» was a trifle strong. I think many
of our scientific people don't put enough stress upon hunting, and upon the
habits of big game. For instance, in Donaldson Smith's book on African ex-
plorations, if he had given us in full detail an account of the habits and chase
of some of the big game encountered, he would really have contributed
a work of more value than by collecting beetles and the like, or by work-
ing over the geology of the country. The geology and the beetles will re-
main unchanged for ages, but the big game will vanish, and only the pioneer
hunters can tell about it. Hunting books of the best type are often of more
permanent value than scientific pamphlets; & I think the B. & C. should dif-
ferentiate sharply between worthless hunting stories, & those that are of
value. Writings by "Chipmunk," ". . ." etc., are not very valuable; but your
piece on the buffalo is worth more than any but the very best scientific
monographs about the beast. Sincerely yours
P. S. — Speaking of the buffalo reminds me that I don't know whether
you have anything in about the Yellowstone Park. Have you a piece about
it which shows the diminution of the buffalo. We have made such a point
of the Yellowstone Park in our two previous volumes that I think we ought
to dwell on it in this one, even if only to the extent of a paragraph in the
preface. If we have no piece on the subject I wish you could put in just
a paragraph on the Park, mentioning particularly the great destruction of
the buffalo.
788 • TO WILLIAM SHEFFIELD OOWLES Roosevelt
Washington, August 25, 1897
Dear Will: For your sins the Fern is to take me out for three days (Septem-
ber 7th, 8th and pth) to gyrate around the fleet off Hampton Roads. I know
you wouldn't mind having me personally, but unfortunately I have to come
with quite a tail, consisting of my aide, (Lieutenant Sharp), Frederic Rem-
ington, two newspaper reporters (good fellows), and possibly Captain
Brownson. Maybe we can stow them around in the fleet. If not we will all
just bunk down anywhere for the two nights we are out, and disturb you
as little as possible. I hate to put you to this trouble, but I think the Dolphin
658
is engaged, so I haven't any alternative, and I am very anxious to see the
squadron of ironclads maneuvering, and at gun practice. Faithfully yours
789 • TO AVERT DE LANO ANDREWS RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, August 25, 1897
My dear Andrews: Your telegram caused me unbounded surprise, and equal
delight. I am exceedingly anxious to see the papers and read the full ac-
counts. How I should like seeing Parker with McCullagh as chief! Smith
must be turning out a very good fellow. I am glad that coward and feeble
scamp — Conlin — was at last frightened into going out. Will you keep
O'Brien at the head of the detective bureau, or try somebody else? Just so
far as possible I would root out every trace of Parker's power.
By the way, if you have a spare hour or so look at the Atlantic Monthly,
just out. It has an article by me on the Police Department.1 Faithfully yours
790 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, August 26, 1897
Dear Cabot, Before receiving your letter I had sent Long the proof of my
proposed article (I don't think it would quite do for me to send it to the
President, after the Secretary has passed on it) and I enclose you the last two
pages of his answer; on the first page he had merely told me about striking
out the parts where I urged an increase in size of the Navy. His letter, as
you will see, is most kind in tone towards me; it shows that he is against
any increase whatever of the Navy; and I especially wish you to look at the
paragraph I have marked. It is precisely what Carl Schurz and Godkin have
written, to me or about me; and if it were true I should of course have stayed
in the Police Department. Well, we must do what we can with the tools
available. Please return me the letter; also the other, from the Commander
of the new torpedo flotilla, which I send simply because it is so appreciative
that it quite touched me.
Will you write me Bigelow's address abroad? I would like it moderately
soon.
Did you notice that Conlin had retired, and that Parker was bowled over?
Events in the Police Department have more than justified every action I took.
Give my love to Nannie; I sent her letter to Edith. It is very cool and
pleasant here — for Washington; and, though I get rather homesick in the
evenings, I thoroughly enjoy my work in the day time.
Mahan has a really noble article in Harper's Monthly. Yours ever
1 Theodore Roosevelt, "Municipal Administration: the New York Police Force,"
Atlantic Monthly, 80:289-300 (September 1897).
1 Lodge, I, 273-274.
659
791 * TO JOHN MCCULLAGH Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 26, 1897
My dear Chief: It does me good to address you under that title. I now write
you not only to congratulate you, for you know already what I feel, but
to give a word of advice. Pray treat this letter as entirely confidential, and
show it to no one unless it is to Mr. Andrews. Of course I shouldn't mind
your showing it to Col. Smith, or to Mr. Moss, but I don't suppose they
would care to see it.
My one desire now is that you shall make a brilliant success. If you are
already Chief, then there is no further trouble. If you are Acting Chief I
am convinced that you will be made Chief all right; but I earnestly hope that
if it is decided to have an examination, the three commissioners will remem-
ber in making the merit mark that if they give a fairly high merit mark to
some old soldier, and he passes, he will have to get the appointment over your
head. Of course if the old soldier were entitled to this mark I would give it
to him anyhow; but no mistaken sense of being nice to him ought to secure
him what he is not entitled to. Thus I know two or three first-class captains
who are veterans. They are good captains; none of them would make a good
chief. If they enter into competition with you for the position of Chief, I
should give each of them a mark that would render it impossible for them
to be appointed, simply because that mark is properly comparative with
yours; and you are fit for the position, and they are not fit, and this is all
there is to it.
So much for your getting appointed. Now for your behavior when ap-
pointed. I have stood by you steadily, because I believe in your honesty,
your courage, your ability, and your loyalty. The men who have steadfastly
backed you have not been the politicians who first made a great pretense of
being for you, but men like Andrews and his colleagues. Show them that you
appreciate what they have done. While sensible of your own dignity, and of
what is due you as the executive head of the force, make every effort to
prove to them that you recognize their position as commissioners, as well as
what they have done for you in the past, and that you are anxious to work in
entire unison with them, and to treat them with all possible respect and con-
sideration. If the members of the board are dishonest or tricky, the Chief
should undoubtedly fight them, but if they are honest men, sincerely desirous
of doing what is right, it is not only best for the force, but best for himself,
that he should make every effort to stay in with them. I know I need not
warn you on no account to try to make any deal or dicker with Parker. He
is fundamentally treacherous and insincere, and he would not only betray
you, but he would also probably ask what you could not as an honest man
do. Above all make your administration stand so high for honesty and effi-
ciency that every man who has ever championed your course may feel proud
660
of the fact. As Chief of Police you occupy one of the five or six most im-
portant positions in the entire city of New York, with its 3,000,000 of inhabi-
tants, as there will be next January. You have drawn a great prize. I know
you would be entirely straight anyhow, but even if you were inclined not
to be, from sheer self-interest it is worth while. You can make a great repu-
tation for yourself, and do a great good to the city. I believe you will have
to make a great change in the entire discipline of the Chiefs office. You will
certainly have to change some of the shoo-fly roundsmen and many of the
ward men, and make the different captains occupy an altogether different'
attitude toward you from the one which they have occupied toward your
predecessor. Under him the discipline was unquestionably sagging down; and
I have been told on many sides that the policemen were not only getting to
go off their beats, but were beginning to be guilty of petty blackmail and
petty oppression of small storekeepers, peddlers, and the like. You will prob-
ably have to make a change in the detective bureau. Exercise great caution
as to whom you put in. Think over Titus, and over all the other men whom
you believe it worth while considering.
Finally, make the force feel that you are the friend of any honest man
who is resolute and intelligent and faithfully performs his duty, and get rid
of the fools and scoundrels and inefficient men as rapidly as you can. I have
never asked you a favor, and I probably never shall. There are two or three
men, such as Roundsman Rathgeber, who, as long as they do their duty and
give satisfactory service, I hope to see left unharmed; but I don't have to
write you about them, because I know you would, of your own accord,
treat them as you do other good men.
When I next come to New York I shall come straight to Police Head-
quarters. Meanwhile, Chief, I want to again assure you of the pleasure I feel,
and of the confidence with which I look forward to the way you will ad-
minister your duties, and to the way in which you will bring up the stand-
ard of the New York Police Force as regards both efficiency and integrity.
With great regard, Very sincerely yours
792 -TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 26, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: All right; I have sent the article1 to the printer with
your changes just as you sent them in. The Naval Institute is of a semi-
official character; and although all kinds of opinions on all kinds of subjects
are promulgated in it by navy men, yet I would prefer putting the article
in the shape which you suggest. I think it is more becoming, and in better
1 Theodore Roosevelt, "The Naval Policy of America as Outlined in Messages of
the Presidents of the United States, from the Beginning to the Present Day, Pro-
ceedings of the United States Naval Institute, 23:509-521 (1897).
661
accord with propriety. Hereafter I shall adopt exactly the rule you suggest
about my official publications, and about my general utterances also. I say
general utterances because, as you perhaps remember, when I was out West,
in my speeches to the Naval Militia, and since then in an interview anent the
Naval Militia of the Pacific slope — an interview which was published in the
California and Oregon papers — I spoke of the need of additional battleships
and additional torpedo boats; but I understand now, and will keep exactly
along the line you suggest. I know you will excuse my saying that I can't
help being sorry you have reached the conclusion that we are not to go on
at all in building even say one battleship and five torpedo boats; but whatever
your conclusion is I shall back it up.
My sister-in-law has a kodak, and when I was at Sagamore Hill with all
my small children, nephews and nieces, she took some photographs of them
when I was playing with them around the old barn, and teaching them
football, and preparing to take them on a picnic. I thought it might amuse
you to glance at them, so I send them in an envelope, stamped and addressed
back to me, so that it won't bother you to send them back.
I am very glad you liked my Atlantic article. It was in some ways almost
as difficult to write as the work itself had been to do, for I did not wish to be
needlessly personal, and yet I was not willing to be less than truthful. It was
a very hard, and in some way very disagreeable although most interesting
task, and I felt that I really did accomplish a good deal. Since I left, Com-
missioner Grant, whom I am sorry to say was not only a very stupid man,
but one of blunted moral susceptibilities, has gone out. A good man was put
in his place, and they forced out Conlin, who was the tool of the corrupt ele-
ments in the board, and broke the power of Parker, who was the representa-
tive of those corrupt elements. It was the republican machine which kept
Grant in with Parker and produced the deadlock in the board.
Yes indeed I wish I could be with you for just a little while and see the
lovely hill farm to which your grandfather came over ninety years ago.
Your description of it made me long to see it, and made me almost feel that
I could see it with my mind's eye. Now, stay there just exactly as long as
you want to. There isn't any reason you should be here before the ist of
October, unless something unexpected turns up. Everything is running quietly
now, and there is nothing of any importance on hand. Admiral Matthews2
has come back today; and the week after next when I go down to spend
three days on board of the squadron I shall leave him in charge. Captain
Crowninshield will be back soon. Congress won't be here. You know better
than I when the President will come, but I don't suppose he will need to see
you for some little time after he does get back; and September is sometimes
not a pleasant month in Washington.
With warm regards to Mrs. Long and your daughters, Very faithfully
yours
"Rear Admiral Edmund Orville Matthews, chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks.
662
793 ' TO WILLIAM SHEFFIELD COWLES RoOSCVelt
Washington, August 27, 1897
Dear Will: The Secretary has suddenly telegraphed me to use the Dolphin.
Were I alone I should prefer the Fern, but as I shall have five people with me
in all probability, I will of course have to take the Dolphin. I am sorry
though, for I have wanted very much to see you when I would have a chance
for a real talk; but I will get aboard the Fern during the time of practice.
I will ask to have the examination for Mates sent you, and also a copy of
that bill just as soon as Sharp can get one. He has been sending them around,
and says he has used up all the copies.
I quite agree with what you [say] on the flower show business. To have
the squadron as a whole appear in two or three places does good, but to have
all the ships skiting about like pollywogs in a pond does harm. Faithfully
yours
794 • TO GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL RoOSBVelt
Washington, August 30, 1897
My dear Grinnell: I am extremely obliged to you for sending me that proof.
I think it one of the most interesting articles I have ever read. Why in the
name of Heaven have you never published more of your experiences in book
form? They would be worth a hundred times as much as dry-as-dust pedan-
tic descriptions by Shufeldt1 and a lot of other little half-baked scientists.
I know these scientists pretty well, and their limitations are extraordinary,
especially when they get to talking of science with a capital S. They do good
work; but, after all, it is only the very best of them who are more than brick-
makers, who laboriously get together bricks out of which other men must
build houses. When they think they are architects they are simply a nuisance.
There are two or three points upon which our observations do conflict;
but I think my article had better be left as it is, with, if you think it wise, a
footnote at the end, which I enclose. There are two things to be allowed for.
One is difference of habit in different districts, and the other is error of ob-
servation. For instance, I know that hungry wolves will readily kill both kit
foxes and ordinary foxes, and I have known of one instance where they
killed a coyote; and I wouldn't give five minutes' purchase for the life of a
kit fox in the midst of a hungry pack of wolves excited by the sight of a
buffalo carcass which they couldn't reach; yet, if your informant was all
right, this very exceptional instance has happened on one occasion. After
all, such very extraordinary cases as that of the wolf which waked you up
go to show that every now and then things happen which we cannot pos-
sibly explain.
1 Robert Wilson Shufeldt, M.D., veteran of the Civil War and several Indian cam-
paigns, honorary curator of the Smithsonian Institution, author of many articles on
osteology and anatomy, son of Rear Admiral Robert Wilson Shufeldt.
663
By the way, don't you think that it is perhaps putting it too strong to
say that the wolves regarded the Indians as friends, when you explain that
there were many tribes which assiduously hunted them for their fur? How-
ever, the statements are not really incongruous if one looks at the context.
Faithfully yours
795 • TO WILLIAM MCKINLEY Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 30, 1897
My dear Mr. President: Recently I collected these opinions of the Presidents
of the United States about the Navy, and made them up into an article for
the Naval Institute; and I thought I would like to have you get a copy in
advance, and so I send it to you. On the first page, where I speak of the
need of strengthening the Navy, the words "in my own opinion," were put
in at the suggestion of the Secretary, to whom I of course submitted the
article.
I hope you are having a very pleasant holiday; and that you haven't been
too much bothered.
With warm regards to Mrs. McKinley, believe me Very respectfully
yours
796 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, August 31, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: I have Admiral Matthews pretty well stirred up on
the dock question. He says that the trouble has been the impossibility to get
material, and even pile drivers; and by dint of telegrams he finds now that
the actual work of the dock will begin toward the end of September, and
that he hopes it will be finished sometime in January; but really he doesn't
know at all when it will be done. I don't regard this as satisfactory, and as
there is nobody in the dock department I can send on at the moment I have
summonsed Bowles here for Friday; for Bowles, I find, knows a great deal
about this dock, although it is really not under him. When Commander
Hemphill gets back I may send him on to New York. I'll get you the infor-
mation you need somehow; but I thint the chief fault comes in the almost
complete dearth of good men among the civil engineers. They are only fit
to work under some vigorous, competent, intelligent chief who, himself,
thoroughly knows the business.
Mr. Peters and I have done one piece of work which I think will save
you a good deal of trouble. The semiannual reports of character for the
different employees have come in, both for the Department and for the navy
yards. Those that fell below the minimum of decent service, that is, who
get less than 70 in quantity and quality of work, we have turned out, hav-
ing consulted with the Qvil Service Commission about it. Of course all their
664
friends, and especially their Congressmen, are writing to the Department;
but I have declined to make any exceptions, because, if we make any, we
will simply have to restore everyone, and this is the only way to keep the
Department up to a decent standard. Peters is overjoyed, and says that the
effect on the work of the clerks is already marked.
There are already signs of uneasiness among the friends of the post
traders, the first appeal on their behalf coming, a good deal to my surprise,
from Boston in the shape of a letter from Moorfield Storey. I am gradually
getting the new system established in several places, with, I think, excellent
results.
I sent a copy of my article (with the corrections suggested by you, of
course) to the President, so that he should see it in advance.
Trouble has arisen over that man Ormsby, the ex-naval officer who is
now a jack-leg lawyer, and who took up the cases of the prisoners in the
Boston Navy Yard. On one of his visits there he in some manner obtained
a copy of a letter to which he was not entitled. The Judge Advocate Gen-
eral says, very simply, that he purloined it. He has now had the audacity to
ask that this letter be certified. The Judge Advocate General had written
asking him how he got possession of the letter, and for what purpose he
wished to use it, but I hate to have any communication with such a man,
and I believe that we will simply get into trouble bothering with him, so I
shall take no notice of him unless you direct me to; for this exploit of his in
connection with the letter seems to show that he is not a man whom it is
well for the Department to deal with. Very sincerely yours
P. S. — Mr. Snyder has just shown me your letter. I shall send in the
nominations of Messrs. Hichborn and Bradford at once. Shall I also send in
that of Clover? I understand that it is a Presidential appointment.
Mr. Finney had spoken to me about Mr. Herbert, but I did not feel that
I had any right to address you in the matter. I am very glad that you feel
as you do about it. It would seem to me a graceful and appropriate act on
our part to suggest to the Attorney General his nomination, and I believe
the Attorney General would welcome such a suggestion from you.
With great regard, Very truly yours
797 • TO JACOB AUGUST Riis Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, September 2, 1897
My dear Mr. Riis: No, I never was told by the Secretary that your name
had been suggested for the trip with me. The mere mention of the chance
made me feel homesick to see you. What fun we would have had! I can't
help feeling really put out about it.
Your letter was very interesting, and told me just what I wished. I felt
that that article in the Mercury, in spite of its intention, was really rather
complimentary, for it shows that Conlin, and therefore Parker, recognize
665
that you and I have been the authors of their undoing. What Parker means
in his statement about McCullagh never being Chief I don't know. If the
other men stand firm, he must, and will, be Chief. I think you and I funda-
mentally agree about McCullagh and Cortwright. With Parker out of the
Board Cortwright would probably be the best, but with Parker in the
Board the one essential is that we should have a man who is not under his
influence, and can neither be bullied nor bribed by him. Cortwright, al-
though an honest fellow and therefore an immense improvement on Conlin,
was a little afraid of Parker. He was too honest to let Parker force him to
do anything that was deliberately wrong, but he would have permitted
Parker to maintain an enormous influence, and any influence that that dis-
honest, treacherous, and lying scoundrel maintains must be for evil.
Now, I entirely agree with you as to the nonresistance of the Christians
in Quo Vadis — and elsewhere. It made me so angry! The nonresistance of
good people always does. This is one reason I am fighting so hard for the
Navy. You would like these naval people. They are simple, brave, honorable
and devoted to a high ideal. Of couse they have lots of faults, and there are
some exceptions among them as even regards the attributes that they gener-
ally have; but they are a fine set of fellows as a whole.
Give my regard — indeed I am tempted to say my love — to Mrs. Riis
and to all your children. How's the ranchman doing? Sometime or other
send me on one of his letters again. I send you a couple of pictures of my
own children and their small cousins, which may amuse you. Always yours
P.S. — Your telegram has just come. By all means come along with me.
But after receiving the Secretary's letter, I, in accordance with it (for he
mentioned nothing whatever about you) arranged to take the usual repre-
sentative of the Sun here, a very nice fellow named Oulahan along. But why
don't you come as the Evening Sun representative? Oulahan is for the Morn-
ing Sun. You will have rather a primitive bunk, but I think you will be
comfortable enough, and it would be the best kind of spree. Do come. Take
the train on Monday in time to join me at the foot of Seventh Street, Wash-
ington, B.C., on the boat which leaves for Norfolk at 7 P.M. Meet me on
the boat. The next morning (Tuesday) we reach Fortress Monroe, and
there get aboard the Dolphin, and will be off for three days and two nights;
and then return by the night boat to Washington, reaching there early Fri-
day morning. Now, do come. I am certain the Evening Sun would like to
have you even though the Morning Sun has Oulahan.
I wonder what infernal game Parker is revolving in his tortuous mind.
798 • TO SETH LOW Roosevelt Mss.
Personal Washington, September 4, 1897
My dear Low: Is there not some way by which we can get the republican
convention to endorse you? I think the task has been rendered needlessly
666
difficult by the extreme goo-goo people; and when we take into account the
folly and iniquity (for they are chuck full of both) of so many of the ma-
chine leaders I don't know whether there is much hope; but no effort should
be spared.1 1 shall see the President the first chance I get and try to get him
to put pressure on the local people. I don't know whether he will or not,
but they ought to see, or be made to see, that if they can win with you it
really amounts to a great triumph for what they affect to desire, that is, for
republican principles generally.
I wish they also could be made to understand that you would in no sense
ostracize them, and that you are not a mere doctrinaire. If they turn in and
help you I should hope that you would make every effort to keep on good
terms with them, and consult with them so far as possible about appoint-
ments. A man like Olcott, for instance, who is a thoroughly good official,
although a machine man, is just the type of man to appoint.
I must ask you to keep this letter private, as I suppose I have no right to
say anything in public without the authority of the President and the Secre-
tary. This is the first time I have wished I were not in my present place, and
part of an "Administration." Faithfully yours
799 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, September 4, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: On receipt of your telegram I issued the order to
Bowles.1 1 shall, as you direct, think over very carefully the proposition to
abolish the Yards and Docks by merging it in the Bureau of Construction
and Repair. I suppose that this would have to be done by law, as the Bureau
of Yards and Docks is established by statute, although of course you could
shift the duties around to suit yourself. At first sight the plan hardly seems
to me desirable. There are only certain duties of the two Bureaus that are
alike, and I hardly see how the Bureau of Construction and Repair could
undertake all the multitudinous civil engineering duties which are now
gathered into the Yards and Docks Bureau. The functions of a civil engineer
and of a naval constructor are really very different; in fact, the functions of
the steam engineer and naval constructor are much more alike, and I should
1 After nominating Low, the Citizens' Union demanded that the Republican party
"ratify" die choice of candidate. This was a politically naive attempt to force the
Republican organization into a subsidiary position. But the Union did not com-
mand sufficient votes to make their "demand" more than a startling gesture. It was
brushed aside by the regular Republicans who nominated Benjamin F. Tracy. The
only practical effect of the maneuver was to divide Republican and Independent
strength between Low and Tracy, thus facilitating the election of Tammany's
candidate, Robert Anderson Van Wyck.
1 Bowles was ordered to take immediate charge of the work on Dry Dock Number
Three.
667
be rather inclined to think that more of a success could be made in consoli-
dating the Steam Engineering Bureau with the Bureau of Construction and
Repair than in consolidating the Yards and Docks with it. I believe that the
organization of the Yards and Docks Bureau for business purposes is at
present bad, but I think the main trouble comes in not having at its head
someone like Captain Folger or even Captain Brownson.2 If either of these
men had been at the head I am very confident there would not be now the
slightest need to turn this dry dock in New York over to Bowles. Of course,
however, I should not, because of difficulties either with the head or in the
plan of the Bureau, advocate on that account merely its abolition. On this
very question of dry docks, for instance, I think Mr. Hichborn is hopelessly
wrong. He wishes wooden dry docks, which are condemned by practically
every government expert. Moreover, I think that the Bureau of Construction
and Repair ought to do better on certain lines with the work it already has
before it takes a new departure. For instance, I believe that there is every
reason to feel great dissatisfaction with the torpedo-boat work of the Con-
struction Bureau. I feel this all the more keenly because my experience with
the Herreshoffs is such as to make me dislike seeing the Government in any
way at their mercy; but undoubtedly hitherto they have built torpedo boats
that are beyond comparison better than those constructed at Baltimore under
the immediate supervision of the Bureau. (By the way, I don't know that I
told you I made the Herreshoffs back down square and fair.) In such an
important matter as this do you not think it would be well to find out what
is done in England, where the genius of the people, unlike in France and
Germany, is substantially akin to our own, and where they have had an
enormous experience in naval administration? My understanding is that their
docks and yards are under engineers who are themselves responsible to the
first civil lord of the Admiralty. There are, however, various features of
their administrative work about which I should think it would be well worth
our while to know in detail. One of our Board on Dry Docks is Captain
Chadwick, who will leave the Bureau here on the 8th. Do you not think it
would be well to let me order him to England to thoroughly investigate and
report on this very subject? It is a matter about which he has studied much,
and I hardly know any one of our officers who is so competent to get us the
exact information we need. If you do not think this is a good plan I will
then write to our naval attach^ to forward us the information, but in that
case we will not get it in as satisfactory form; and it is a matter of such
importance that I should be very reluctant to see the Department go ahead
* Roosevelt's comments on naval administration reflect the chronic despair that has
affected every Secretary of the Navy in modern times. His suggested consolidation
of die bureaus of Steam Engineering and Construction and Repair was in substance
achieved with the creation of the Bureau of Ships more than forty years after this
letter was written. Reflecting on the rate of change in the administrative structure
of the Department, a naval officer said: "Trying to reform the Navy Department
is like kicking around a forty-foot sponge."
668
without knowing all there was to know in the matter. It is better to have
someone who is more conversant with naval administration than our naval
attache is, or can be, report on it in full; and Captain Chadwick is excellently
suited for the work. Very sincerely yours
P. S. — Monday is Labor Day; and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
I shall be down with the squadron, so it will be some little time before I
write to you again. I hope you have made up your mind to stay away until
the ist of October. I doubt if the President and Cabinet will have gotten
together much before that time.
Sometime or other in the more or less remote future I should like myself
to go to England for three or four weeks just to study their system of naval
administration; and also possibly in Germany and France.
800 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, September 6, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: I have received your letter. Wainwright is not going
to sea for some time, so the matter can rest until you come back. It was
Engineer blank, not Black. I have written Bowles about the appropriation;
but, as I told you, Matthews is convinced that the appropriation will be
exceeded, because it is evident that the part of the work which has been
begun (the cofferdam) is going to cost much more than was estimated. I
entirely agree with you in your feeling about the Yards and Docks Bureau.
A first-class civil engineer would be the best man to have at the head, and
we have no such man among our Engineers. I do not believe, however, that
Hichborn is particularly well suited for the position. I don't think he is as
well suited as men like, say, Brownson and Folger — I mention these because
neither of them would take it, I believe, and so they simply serve as types.
As I wrote you, the change would have to be made by law, so far as the
abolition of the Bureau is concerned, but you could yourself take out some
of the duties such as that of building these docks, and put them under the
other Bureau if you so desire. I will confer informally with the Attorney
General, as you direct.
I entirely agree with what you say about the young constructors that
are coming forward. If nothing else can be done, how would it do to look
carefully over the list and pick one of these, who also knew something about
engineering, as head of the Yards and Docks? As I wrote you before, I am
reluctant to advise casting two such very different departments into one,
without careful study. There has also been a feeling among many men who
knew best that the Steam Engineering and Construction should be com-
bined; but civil engineering is something so different that I should only put
them together if it were an absolute necessity. Faithfully yours
669
801 -TO JOHN DAVIS LONG RoOSCVelt Ms*.
Washington, September 10, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: All right; I'll communicate with the Naval attach^
at once.
As you can easily imagine, putting Bowles in charge of the work has
driven a good many of our friends nearly frantic. Two or three of them
have come to me and complained that this was a reflection on the Line. I
finally rather lost my temper with them, and explained that under like cir-
cumstances I should always reflect on the Line or, in other words, so far as
I was concerned, I should try to get the work done in the best way possible;
and if a given job could best be done by a Staff officer I should recommend
his doing it; if by a civilian, then I should recommend a civilian; and if by
a Line officer, then I should stand up for the Line officer. Bowles has gone
to work with his usual energy. He writes me confidentially that as he looks
into the matter he is fairly appalled at the utter slackness with which the
work has been managed, and the dawdling methods employed. He tells me,
however, as Admiral Matthews had already told me, that the estimate is
utterly insufficient for the work. I have instructed him, as per your last
letter, to keep inside the appropriation. Then if when Congress meets we
find that the work is but half done we can ask for more. Admiral Matthews
didn't at all object to what was done at first, but I think he has been worked
upon since, and Menocal has sent on a request for a court of inquiry. I shall
not grant it unless you direct me to, for I think it would be absolutely use-
less. In the first place, the court of inquiry should be held on Matthews, and
not on Menocal, if any were held; and, in the next place, it could not pos-
sibly achieve any good result. If pressed for an answer I shall simply say that
no good can possibly come of such a court; that we were thoroughly dis-
satisfied with the methods employed in what was practically an emergency
work, but that inasmuch as there seemed to be great doubt as to where to
place the responsibility we thought it best to make a fresh start and put one
man in absolute command; and that there is no need of any court whatsoever.
I never enjoyed or profited by anything more than I did my three days
with the fleet. I shall write you a full formal report in a day or two. I was
busy from morning until night, and I think I have found out a great many
things that will be of interest to you.
I will see the President at once on his return as to Tryon's successor.
I enclose a letter from Major Reid, Acting Commandant of the Marine
Corps. I didn't understand from your last letter whether you wish me to
make the change at once in Charlestown or not. I should be delighted to go
ahead and do it, but didn't know whether you would think I ought to turn
the man out just at present. Faithfully yours
P.S. As for Mr. Wainwright he is due for sea now, but nothing has been
said to him about his going. Clover's leave of absence expires October 29th,
670
and I find that Wainwright expected he would go about that time. I can't
find any memoranda about filling the place. I am informed by the Bureau
of Navigation that if it were generally known that Mr. Wainwright was
going to sea there would probably be quite a number of applications placed
on file.
I have had a long talk with Commodore Howell today about the Armor
Board. He evidently believes that it is going to be a far more serious and
expensive task than Congress has any idea of; and he says that of course it
is obvious we can get armor cheap if we buy enough of it, and buy it con-
tinuously, but that to stop work from time to time, to build two or three
battleships, and then wait a couple of years before building three or four
more, means necessarily a great expense, and also a tendency to produce
inferior armor. If the Government will steadily go on every year building
two or more battleships or armored cruisers we can get the very best armor
at a pretty cheap rate; but otherwise not. We can do this with private firms
best, but we could probably also do it by the Government, although there
would be much delay and expense, and probably not a few blunders at the
beginning.
On second thoughts I have concluded not to send you the letter of
the Acting Colonel-Commandant of Marines about the post tradership at
Charlestown. Col. Heywood has just returned, and I went over the matter
with him today, and I don't think I need bother you about it. Three of the
post traderships are held by widows of naval and marine officers. It would
be a very hard thing indeed to turn out these three as long as they give
satisfaction, and when the post traderships are in such hands it is most
unlikely that abuses will occur. These three accordingly I shall keep, and
simply as any vacancy naturally occurs substitute a canteen. On the other
hand the Charlestown Navy Yard man is well off. He has been in there a
long time, and he is now the only man left. Accordingly I shall, unless you
direct me to the contrary, have the post tradership at Charlestown abolished
and the canteen substituted.
802 -TO FRANCIS TIFFANY BOWLES RoOSCVelt
Washington, September 10, 1897
My dear Sir: I shall be particularly obliged to you if you will correspond
with me personally, keeping me fully informed on Dry Dock No. 3. What
you say will be treated as entirely confidential, and will not be used to the
disadvantage of any officer. As you can easily imagine, there has been a
perfect tempest over putting you at this work. Courts of inquiry have been
requested, notably by Mr. Menocal. I have declined to grant any. If there
is any delay on the part of the Department in the way of doing anything
you wish, let me know forthwith. Very sincerely yours
671
803 • TO JAMES BRYCE Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, September 10, 1897
My dear Mr. Bryce: I have not before felt like regretting being in my pres-
ent position, but I do now, since it makes it so problematical when, and
even if at all, I shall see you. It has been six weeks since I have been home
or seen my family, and I don't know when the Secretary will be back. Until
he returns I cannot leave. This means that it is not in my power to do what
I should above all things like to do; that is, try to get Airs. Bryce and your-
self out at my home on Long Island. But do let me know when you find out
you are to be in New York or the vicinity, and at what time. I shall try my
best to get on. There are many things about which I wish to talk to you. On
questions of foreign policy, both in your country and mine, while I agree
with you in the main I do not agree with you entirely. It seems to me that
England would be doing her duty as a civilized nation if she overthrew the
Mahdists and opened up the Sudan; and we ought to take Hawaii, in the
interests of the White race. Had we only taken it four years ago, there
would now be no coolie question. Give my warm regards to Mrs. Bryce.
Very sincerely yours
804 • TO FRANCIS TIFFANY BOWLES Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, September 1 1, 1897
My dear Mr. Bowles: Many thanks for your letter. You are giving me just
the information that I want by writing me as you do. As you will see from
my letter of yesterday, I intend anyhow to stifle that inquiry. As soon as it
comes before us in proper form I shall write the note to Menocal that you
suggest. The difficulties were mainly the fault of the system — though this
of course does not alter the fact that a request should be made to change the
system. If there is the slightest need of a consultation with me, consider
yourself under orders to come here at once. Very sincerely yours
[Handwritten] P.S. I have just ratified your contract with the Johnson
or Hirsch people.
805 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, September 1 1, 1897
Dear Cabot: Many thanks for sending me the editorial from the Journal.
By the way, after .thinking it over I came to the conclusion you were right,
and, before making my piece public, I sent a copy to the President. I didn't
ask his approval, because I thought that might look as if I wanted something
more than the Secretary's, so I merely sent it to him with a statement that
I wished him to see it in advance; and that the words "in my own opinion"
1 Lodge, I, 274-275.
672
had been put in by direction of the Secretary. Apparently it has done good.
I have never enjoyed three days more than my three days with the fleet,
and I think I have profited by it. In fact I know I have, for there are a lot
of things I am doing now because of what I saw there. I was very fortunate
in the weather, which was wonderfully calm. Think of it, on the Atlantic
Ocean, out of sight of land, going out to dinner to a battleship in evening
dress without an overcoat! I saw for myself the working of the different
gear for turning turrets — electric, hydraulic, steam, and pneumatic. I was
aboard the Iowa and the Puritan throughout their practice under service
conditions at the targets, and was able to satisfy myself definitely of the
great superiority of the battleship as a gun platform. I was on the New York
during the practice at night with searchlights and rapid fire guns at a drifting
target, the location of which was unknown. I saw the maneuvers of the
squadron as a whole, and met every captain and went over with him, on the
ground, what was needed.
Harry has come back; I shall see him today. We are having a spell of hot
weather now, but I don't mind it. When the Secretary will return I haven't
the slightest idea. I hope the President gets back next week, as there are a
number of things I should like to talk to him about.
With warm love to Nannie. Yowrs ever
The London Morning Post has an article on me as "a Jingo of the Lodge
and Morgan school"; and the Evening Post of N. Y. is filled with wrath and
contempt at my visiting the squadron because I am a "civilian."
806 • TO SETH LOW Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, September 1 1, 1897
My dear Low: You must excuse my bothering you, especially as I can really,
I suppose, take no part in the campaign; but I am very uneasy at the way
some of our friends are behaving. For heaven's sake, don't let them shut the
door upon the possibility of an alliance with the republican party. As you
know, I have been very anxious all along to have you nominated by the
republican party. Whether first or last I didn't care at all. Many of the
Citizens' Union people have done everything in their power to make this
impossible. I can't understand why they object to conferences. Moreover,
if we can get you supported by the republicans putting decent men of their
own organization, such as Olcott, for instance, on the ticket with you, it
should certainly be done. We want to win, and we don't want to be scared
by people condemning as "deals" what they would heartily back if called
"understandings" with the Chamber of Commerce, etc.
Of course don't bother to answer any of these letters; but I am very
much concerned over the outcome. This is a great crisis in our history. It's
not a time for kindergarten methods, and we ought not to jeopardize the
future of good government in the Greater New York by taking an impos-
sible position. Every effort should be made to combine forces. Faithfully
yours
807 • TO FRENCH ENSOR CHADWICK RoOSCVelt
Washington, September 13, 1897
My dear Captain Chadwick: You are very thoughtful to have written me,
and I much appreciate it. I shall try to get on to the New York Navy Yard
in a week or two; but frankly I don't think there is very much to be done
there just at present. Of course the change was bound to produce hard feel-
ing and bitterness. That I discounted in advance. You say "*/ the present
arrangement stands." The present arrangement 'will certainly stand unless
Bowles does badly, and then I shall make another change; but under no
circumstances wiU I go back to the old arrangement, or put the matter
under the control of anyone who was concerned in thfe previous misman-
agement. I doubt very much whether I grant any court of inquiry. If so it
will have to take account of Admiral Matthews rather more than of Menocal;
but as neither one or the other did anything which could not be backed up
by some regulation, I doubt if much good will come from a court of inquiry,
for it would have to drag in three or four men, including even Commodore
Bunce, who, astounding to relate, reported against urgency in the matter.
There was no overt act done by anyone. The point was that the system
was confused, and that not one of the two or three most immediately con-
cerned had the snap and ginger necessary to make a thing of this kind a
success. Unless they are very foolish they will let it rest where it is. I don't
want to have a court of inquiry. I shall probably not have one; but if they
insist upon my going into the matter I shall make a memorandum of the
reasons for my action, the memory of which will last them all their lives.
Hanging Byng was an outrage; but it would have been entirely proper
to give his job to somebody else; and if he had then insisted on a court of
inquiry he would have had a bad time. If Menocal, Bunce, Matthews & Co.
insist on a court of inquiry, they shall have something to remember.
I miss you very much. When I got back from my squadron cruise I
called in my other bower — Wainwright — just to talk over things.
Mrs. Roosevelt wrote me how much she enjoyed having you at dinner.
I hope you saw my game heads. Faithfully yours
808 • TO HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, September 14, 1897
Dear Fair: I am very much obliged to you for your note. I will look up that
piece in Science at once. I almost broke the heart of my beloved friend
Merriam, however. He felt as though he had been betrayed in the house of
his friends; but really he goes altogether too far. He has just sent me a
674
pamphlet announcing the discovery of two new species of mountain lion
from Nevada. If he is right I will guarantee to produce fifty-seven new
species of red fox from Long Island.
My sister had written me already how much she enjoyed being with you
and the others at Woods Hole. It was a great pleasure for me to have a
chance of renewing my friendship with you last winter and the winter
before. I am greatly enjoying this place. Faithfully yours
809 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, September 15, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: The Attorney General says that he is very reluctant
to appoint special counsel; that he thinks the practice is a bad one, causing
needless expense. He also says that he does not know anything of Secretary
Herbert's ability as a lawyer.
Yesterday I saw the President. He suddenly asked me to send over the
nomination of Dr. Bates for Surgeon General Tryon's place. I told him that
I knew you preferred Surgeon Tryon for the position, and that unless he
ordered me to I would not send the nomination over, but would wait until
your return. He said that was all right, and accordingly it awaits your return.
I enclose two letters from the Armor Factory Board, the result of a long
conference with them yesterday on my part. I feel that they ought to visit
some at least of the different armor sites both Southern & Western before
their final report, but I do not think they should make these visits until their
present work is over. I agree with them that Mr. Fritz should be taken as
an expert,1 but it seems to me that it is a mistake to get up a report so elabo-
rate that 5 months will be required for it. It is very well to have this report
made as supplementary to the other, but it seems to me that it would be
better to have a report in outline, with a more or less approximately accurate
estimate of the cost, etc., ready by December ist. They can fill in all the
details later, but the matter is of such great importance to the Navy that I
feel the report should be before Congress as soon as it meets. Moreover, I
think this report ought to contain, if it is possible, some kind of estimate of
what the armor is likely to cost.
The President showed me the telegram he was sending you, that you
wouldn't be needed before next week. The Attorney General afterwards
said to me that the President might go away next week. If so I think it rather
hard that you should have to come down here until early in October. I am
very glad you have been away so far in September, for it has been the hot-
test weather we have had, but I suppose that within a week or two now it
1 John Fritz was for thirty-two years the general superintendent of the Bethlehem
Iron Company. His masterly development of the Bethlehem plant and his unfailing
willingness to apply innovations in the process of steel making marked him as the
leading technician in his profession. He was asked by the Armor Board to make
plans and estimates for a government armor pkte works.
cannot fail but begin to grow cool. Whenever you come I shall stay here a
few days so as to give you any information you wish on anything that has
happened since you went; and then, with your permission, will go home for
the remainder of my holiday, always providing of course that there is not
some emergency which makes my presence here desirable.
With great regard, Faithfully yours
8 10 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, September 15, 1897
My dear Cabot: Murray Crane1 was in yesterday with a couple of Massa-
chusetts men, whose business I was able to attend to. I then got him to tell
me about you and the Senatorship. He says there is absolutely no danger
whatever. All he wants is that you and your friends should do nothing, and
stay quiet; that there mustn't be the slightest acknowledgment that there is
so much as a contest. It must all be taken for granted that your renomination
is a matter of course.
The President has returned, and yesterday I went out driving with him.
He was very much pleased with your letter to him some little time ago in
reference to his civil service order and the course of the administration gen-
erally; and laughed heartily when I told him how you had written me at
once to send my pamphlet to him before publishing it. He had previously
told me that he hadn't had time to read die pamphlet when it came, but
seeing how much attention it attracted in the newspapers he had afterwards
read every word of it, and was exceedingly glad that I had put it out. Some-
what to my astonishment he also said that I was quite right in my speech to
the Naval Militia, in which I mentioned Japan; that it was only the head-
lines that were wrong; and, in fact, generally expressed great satisfaction
with what I had done, especially during the last seven weeks that I have been
in charge of the Department. Of course the President is a bit of a jollier, but
I think his words did represent a substratum of satisfaction.
He is evidently by no means sure that we shall not have trouble with
either Spain or Japan; and, though he wants to avoid both, yet I think he
could be depended upon to deal thoroughly and well with any difficulty
that arises. I told him that I thought we ought to have some warning in the
Navy Department, and that we ought not to be kept ready all the time. We
can get ready for any time set us, just as you can get horses ready for any
particular time; but you can't keep horses ready minute after minute for 24
hours and have them worth much at the end of the period. I also told him
that I would guarantee that the Department would be in the best possible
1Winthrop Murray Crane, paper manufacturer; Governor of Massachusetts, 1900-
1902; senator from Massachusetts, 1904-1913; throughout his life a powerful though
silent influence both in his state and nation upon the affairs of the Republican party.
Senator Foraker said: "He never participated in debate, but he came nearer knowing
all about everything and everybody than anyone I ever knew."
676
shape that our means would permit when war began; and that, as he knew,
I myself would go to the war. He asked me what Mrs. Roosevelt would
think of it, and I said that both you and she would regret it, but that this
was one case where I would consult neither. He laughed, and said that he
would do all he could, and thought he could guarantee that I should have
the opportunity I sought if war by any chance arose.
To my great pleasure he also told me that he intended we should go on
building up the Navy, with battleships and torpedo boats, and that he did
not think the Secretary would recommend anything he (the President) did
not approve. Altogether I had a very satisfactory talk.
We have had a very hot spell this month.
As I wrote you, I had three delightful days with the squadron. It was a
wonderful and beautiful sight, and did me a lot of good, and the squadron
some good.
I lunched with Harry on Sunday, and we then took a long bicycle ride.
With best love to Nannie, and all, Faithfully yours
8 I I -TO WILLIAM DIXON WEAVER RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, September 15, 1897
My dear Sir: 1 1 must not be understood as being in the least degree respon-
sible for Prof. Hollis' piece.2 I entirely agree with much of what you your-
self say, particularly your sentence running, "so far as it affects the efficiency
of the service," contrasting this with the harmony of the service. Efficiency
must come first. Let me say, however, that I utterly fail to understand what
you mean in your fourth subdivision, on page 1 1, when you speak of "the
present courtier system of naval administration, almost the sole claims for
preferment in which are aptitude for back-stair intrigue, the possession of
Parson Stoecker-like staff -baiting propensities, or mere social qualifications."
You write frankly, and I will write frankly in return. This sentence is sheer
nonsense, and you must be in absolute ignorance of line officers and the
1 William Dixon Weaver, graduate of the United States Naval Academy, 1880,
resigned in 1892 to enter the field of electrical engineering, in which he worked
with distinction for the rest of his life. In 1896 he became the first editor of The
American Electrician.
* Ira Nelson Hollis, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, after a distin-
guished career in engineering and ship construction, resigned in 1892 from the Navy
to develop the engineering department at Harvard. While in Cambridge, where he
quickly established himself as an educator and administrator of real ability, he was
responsible for the construction of Harvard Stadium. From 1913 to 1925 he was
president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The "piece" referred to by Roosevelt
is an article on naval organization by Hollis entitled, "New Organization for the
New Navy," Atlantic Monthly, 80:309-319 (September 1897), which caused much
comment and was used as a basis for the Personnel Act of 1899. This act did as
much as any legislation could to relieve the tensions between the line and the staff
of the Navy. For a full discussion of the act, see Lt. Edward L. Beach, "Results of
the Naval Personnel Law of March 3, 1899," Proceedings of the United States Naval
Institute, 28:231-242 (June 1902).
677
present condition of the Navy if you can really believe it. As for the promo-
tion by selection I entirely agree that somehow it must come, but the danger
is lest in so doing we introduce, precisely the system which, without a
shadow of warrant, you assume to be now existing.
When you elaborate your views there is much with which I coincide;
though I have practical knowledge of the fact that while some line officers
put hostility to the staff above the efficiency of the service, that some engi-
neer officers place hostility to the line in the same position. Undoubtedly
some of the hostility to electrically-turned turrets would vanish at once
were electricity put in the hands of the Steam Engineering Bureau. It seems
to me, too, that it is a confession of weakness to want a false title. Rank is
one thing; title is another.
I confess that I utterly fail to understand what you mean when you
again return to the question of promotion by seniority. It has great evils. Its
one merit is that it absolutely does away with what you call the "courtier
qualities," and the great danger in promotion by selection is that these cour-
tier qualities would come to the front. Your theory that they now dominate
in Washington has not the slightest justification in fact. If you knew the
Chiefs of Bureaus here you would know this. Inasmuch as the Chiefs of
Bureaus are not chosen by seniority, but by selection, there are occasional
instances in which the "courtier-like" principle does come to the fore; usu-
ally, however, in the sense that among two or three good men the man with
most influence gets the position. It obtains precisely as much among the
staff appointments as among the line appointments. I am myself an advocate
for promotion by selection, preferring to run the risk of the supremacy of
the courtier-like qualities rather than fail to get the benefits. But I under-
stand entirely that, while in war the presence of a great crisis may force
people largely to disregard these courtier-like qualities, in peace, when there
is no such pressure, they will tend to come to the fore. I may mention inci-
dentally that you are entirely in error when you talk of "violence of feeling
towards the engineer corps" as having the slightest weight of any kind or
sort in procuring a line officer a berth at Washington. Again, you surely
ought to know enough to realize that there isn't the slightest basis for the
chatter as to our commanding officers running our warships aground; and
it is absolutely untrue to say that "the misadventures of Uncle Sam's Navy
are bringing the service into general disrepute." There have been no such
misadventures as have occurred in the English, German and French navies;
and the disrepute exists only in the minds of the ignorant or malicious.
I hardly think it necessary to say that you are of course misinformed if
you believe I am "aggressive against the engineer corps." What I want to do
is to have the work done, and well done. When I thought the Department of
Yards and Docks (which is a Line Department) was not rebuilding Dock
No. 3 well, I promptly put it under a staff officer — Mr. Bowles— in the
Department of Construction, without the slightest regard to the fact that
678
this was represented as an attack on the line. Where I think the engineers
don't have justice I shall stand by them. Where I think that they advance
claims inconsistent with the good of the service I shall stand against them.
I shall see that each officer of the service, whether a line officer, engineer or
surgeon, has the respect given him which is due his rank; but I shall not
confound rank with title, nor call a constructor or engineer or surgeon
something which he isn't, any more than I shall wish myself to be called
Commodore, or have the Chief Clerk of the Navy Department called
Captain.
As you say that your letter is not confidential I have taken the liberty
of sending it on to Mr. Hollis. I only skimmed through the latter's article,
but in view of your quotation from it I have directed an immediate report
from the Naval Academy as to the alleged treatment of the engineer cadets.
So far from regretting that you wrote so frankly I am glad of it, for it
gave me a chance to write just as frankly in return. Your letter itself shows
the need of some effort to change the existing condition of things, for there
are undoubtedly some line officers as well as some staff officers who feel the
same spirit of bitter hostility to either the line or the staff which your letter
shows, and who feel as you evidently feel (witness your remark about the
discrediting of Uncle Sam's Navy) that they are willing to join in an utterly
unjustifiable effort to bring down the standard of the Navy itself in order
to gratify personal hostility to a corps. Yours truly
8l2 • TO FRANCIS VINTON GREENE RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, September 15, 1897
My dear Colonel Greene: There is always a possibility, however remote, that
we will have war with Spain, and now that the cool weather is approaching
that would probably mean not merely a naval war, but a considerable expe-
ditionary force. I suppose you would be going, would you not? I shall cer-
tainly go myself in some capacity. What I should like to do if it were pos-
sible would be to go under you. I suppose we should have to raise a regiment,
with you as Colonel, and with me as Lieutenant Colonel. My military expe-
rience is strictly limited; I was a captain in the National Guard for three
years; nevertheless I know that under a man like yourself I could do first-
class work, and I would have what assistance the administration could give
in getting up the regiment, etc. Would this suit you should the need arise?
I don't suppose there is any chance of the need arising, and very possibly
you have totally different arrangements in mind, but I want to take time by
the forelock so as to have my plans all laid and be able to act at once in case
there is trouble.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Greene. I have really accomplished a good
deal in this place. Faithfully yours
679
8 1 3 • TO JAMES HARRISON WILSON Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, September 15, 1897
My dear General Wilson: I find that the President will be here next Sunday
probably, and now that he is back I don't want to go until the Secretary
returns. So I shall have to deny myself the pleasure of the visit to you.
Yesterday I went out driving with the President, and he suddenly asked
me if I didn't think you would be a good man for China. I of course told
him that if you would take it you would be the very best man for the place.
I don't know whether this means anything, although the President continued
to say that he had been thinking very seriously of appointing you. If he does
I earnestly hope you will take it. I saw Hitchcock1 the other day. He appears
to be a very good fellow, and I think would accept advice and instruction
from you, so that you could make Pekin and St. Petersburg work together.
Of course treat this as purely confidential. Faithfully yours
814 • TO FREDERIC REMINGTON RoOSevelt
Washington, September 15, 1897
My dear Remington: I wish I were with you out among the sage brush, the
great brittle cottonwoods, and the sharply-channeled, barren buttes; but I
am very glad at any rate to have had you along with the squadron; and I
can't help looking upon you as an ally from henceforth on in trying to make
the American people see the beauty and the majesty of our ships, and the
heroic quality which lurks somewhere in all those who man and handle
them.
Be sure to let me know whenever you come anywhere in my neighbor-
hood. Faithfully yours
815 • TO CHARLES ADDISON BOUTELLE Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, September 16, 1897
My dear Mr. Eoutelle: Just a line to report progress. I spent three most
delightful days with the squadron off Hampton Roads. Oh, Lord! if only
the people who are ignorant about our Navy could see those great warships
in all their majesty and beauty, and could realize how well they are handled,
and how well fitted to uphold the honor of America, I don't think we would
encounter such opposition in building up the Navy to its proper standard.
Everything is getting along well, and very quietly. The torpedo-boat
flotilla will be ready on October ist. There are innumerable things about
which I wish to talk to you, and which I can hardly put down at length in
a letter, so I shall have tp wait until you come on.
1 Ethan Allen Hitchcock, minister designate to St. Petersburg, later Secretary of
Interior under both McKinley and Roosevelt.
680
I hope you received the pamphlet on the speeches of the Presidents. Very
sincerely yours
816 ' TO WILLIAM WIRT KIMBALL Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, September 18, 1897
My dear Mr. Kimball: I find that the Bureau of Navigation is very reluctant
to disturb Bernadou, and I feel that it would be rather rough on him; but if
poor Fremont is sick I think I can have Winslow put on the Dupont.
Now a word confidentially. The correspondent of the Journal here told
me he was going to be allowed to go with your squadron. I think you ought
to be very careful about having any representative of either the World or
the Journal aboard. They both, but particularly the Journal, try in every
way to discredit the Navy by fake stories. They make their correspondents
write such stories, and they alter them to suit themselves. What they want
is something sensational. They would not care a bit for the report of a suc-
cessful trip. What would interest them would be a make-believe story of a
breakdown, or a description of imaginary misconduct. If I were you I
would be very careful what newspaper men I allowed aboard. It is an excel-
lent thing to take out several for two or three hours with the flotilla under
evolutions, when you have the boats behaving pretty well; but on a longer
cruise I would only take a man of whom I was absolutely sure, and who
was connected either with the Associated Press or with some thoroughly
reputable newspaper; most certainly not a Journal or World man.
I am very glad that there now seems no doubt that you will have your
five boats by October ist, but go with any boats you have. Sincerely yours
817 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, September 18, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: I have just received your note of September i6th.
I think I have seen most of the Congressmen «who» sent you that telegram.
I am delighted to hear that you favor the Armor Board going south.
Commodore Howell had told the Congressmen that the Board had no power
to travel around and look at sites, and that the Board had gone to Pennsyl-
vania and Illinois merely to try and find out about the cost of an armor
plant. The constituents of these Congressmen don't understand the differ-
ence. They don't see why the Board should go to Chicago and the north to
find out about the cost of an armor plant, and yet refuse to go to Birming-
ham and the south. I think I made the matter clear to them, and I explained
that at present the Board could travel nowhere, as it was very busy digest-
ing the mass of matter it had accumulated from Pittsburgh and Bethlehem.
I also explained that I was certain if the Board was allowed to go anywhere
you would have it go to the south. I suggest, and indeed very strongly urge,
681
that you tell the Board, or let me tell them, that they are to take the differ-
ent requests made to them from all kinds of sources and places where the
people think the armor plant should be established, and sift out the few
places which are worth serious consideration, and then arrange to have one
or more members of the Board visit these places. If we do this of course
Bethlehem and the immediate neighborhood would be one of the places
visited. If you will permit me I will tell them that this will be done. It will
produce great satisfaction, and will prevent any talk that we are discriminat-
ing against the south. If you don't object I will do this.
I have also received your telegram of yesterday about the Newport being
taken from Portsmouth. I acted on the recommendation of the Bureau of
Navigation. After I had acted I found that the Bureau of Navigation had
not consulted the Bureau of Construction. I informed Captain Crowninshield
that always hereafter the Bureau of Construction should be consulted; but,
after listening to the two sides, it seemed to me to be obvious that the order
ought to stand. The whole truth is that Portsmouth has not got a force of
workmen on which to call for any quick work, and Boston has. If we kept
the Newport in Portsmouth we ran serious risk of her not being ready for
the final trial, and of all the expense for the repairs being in consequence
cast upon the Department. I did not feel that I had a right to incur this risk.
As for discriminating in favor of Massachusetts against New Hampshire 1
simply disregarded the argument, exactly as I disregarded the argument
against Bowles that he had imported men from Norfolk and Philadelphia,
thereby discriminating against New York. I wanted Bowles to get the best
men, and if he couldn't get them in New York I wanted him to get them
from elsewhere.
I dined at the President's last night; and he told me he expected to see
you in the Berkshire Hills next week. I trust you won't come back here
until the week following. I don't think there is any need of you while the
President and Congress are away and nothing serious is on hand.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Long and the Misses Long. Faithfully
yours
P.S. Just after writing this letter three more came from you. I feel badly
to have caused you to write so many letters, but I am always a little bit in a
quandary between the desire on the one hand not to bother you during your
holiday with matters which I can attend to, and on the other not to seem to
arrogate to myself the power of deciding questions which I shouldn't. Some-
body sent me an article in the Boston Herald stating in effect that I was
trying to assume your functions; and I confess the article made me feel a
little uncomfortable. I have appreciated very much the confidence you have
put in me by letting me act during these two months, and I have had con-
stantly before me the purpose never either to do or to fail to do anything
save in accordance with your desires. At first, as you know I began to send
you everything; then it seemed to me that this was very hard upon you and
682
a shirking of responsibility on my part, and I have simply gone ahead with
everything as it came up so as not to leave an accumulated store of work for
you when you came back. The only things that I have held up were those
where I knew you had some personal interest, such as the transfer of Wiley
to the Marine Department. Similarly, even when the President requested me
to send in the nomination of Bates I got him to let it go until you came back.
There! Qw s 'excuse ^accuse. But statements like that in the Herald, that I
am trying to arrogate to myself your functions, render me uncomfortable,
because I know it was just what you were warned against before I came;
and I had flattered myself that so far, aside from that infernal Japanese
speech to the Ohio Naval Militia, I hadn't done anything of which you dis-
approved; and I do most earnestly desire that you shall feel you are able to
go off for any length of time with an easy heart, knowing that I will carry
out your policy with all energy and faithfulness. I shall always, as I know
you would wish me to, present to you as strongly as I can my views upon
any questions of policy about which I feel strongly, even though they are
not yours; but when you have once determined on your policy I shall carry
it out in letter and spirit.
Commodore Howell had gone on to Philadelphia. I am very glad I have
your authority to wake up that Board. They tend to let things drift just as
if they were the Department of Yards and Docks. What you say in your
letter about the necessity of having a report by December ist, and your
fear of engaging Fritz, is exactly what I told them the other day, Mr. Fritz
himself being present; but Commodore Howell seemed to think that he had
your implied sanction for going into the matter exhaustively, no matter how
long it took, and said that there was nothing in his orders to tell him to go
south or to hurry up his report for the ist of December. Now that I have
got your authority, and know exactly what you wish done, the Board shall
do it, and by the time you say.
I have also called in Captain Crowninshield and shown him what you
request done about the squadron at Boston and the Amphitrite at New Bed-
ford. He will direct Admiral Sicard on Monday about the Boston matter;
and the Amphitrite business has already been attended to.
I don't want you to shorten your holiday by a day; and there is no reason
you should come back here until the beginning of the week after next, when
the President returns; but I shall be overjoyed to see you — though I have
found my two months here alone very interesting and very instructive.
8 1 8 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, September 20, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: I had the Armor Board in this morning, and read
them such parts of your letter as were applicable. Then I tried to get sug-
683
gestions from them. Commodore Howell simply slumped at once. He is
going to be of comparatively little service, simply because he will not take
the slightest responsibility, and is desirous that he shall always have some
order or direction to fall back upon in case he is criticised. Civil Engineer
Endicott also has a wobbly turn of mind; but Captain McCormick, Engineer
Perry, and Lieutenants Fletcher and Chambers know their own minds and
are not afraid of responsibility, and with them it is possible to do business.
Unfortunately the law, in accordance with which of course the order to
them had to be drawn up, does demand what is practically an impossibility,
that is, it demands that they shall furnish full details and specifications, and
that under these the Department shall obtain bids, and that we shall submit
them to Congress. Now of course when we have no power to accept bids or
reject them all that this means is that we shall advertise for proposals to
build these works, and these proposals will be of every kind of responsibility
and irresponsibility, including, for instance, the one from Mr. Carpenter,
who announces that he is quite ready to supply us armor at $150 a ton, but
who of course has no backing whatever, and is wholly irresponsible in the
matter. I told them to go ahead and get outline plans and specifications so
that we could ask for die bids or proposals, it being of course understood
that these bids or proposals will be nothing whatever but helps to Congress
in deciding what it shall do, because we could not accept or reject them.
Everything will be done by Dec. ist. I also told the Board to go ahead and
find out how much Fritz would charge for employment up to December
ist, and that on their submitting to me the statement I would, if you per-
mitted, render my decision. The Board say they have made careful inquiry,
and that Fritz is by all odds the best man for the place. As I told you, Howell
is so afraid of committing himself that he instantly tries to duck out of any
such question for fear that he will be held responsible, and Endicott is rather
inclined to follow his example. The other four men are not afraid of respon-
sibility, however, and they put the matter with the greatest emphasis. I
appreciate fully all the objections to Fritz; nevertheless I think we must have
an expert, and we ought to have the very best expert, and the Board is
unanimously of the opinion that he is the best, and four of the members say
that he is beyond all odds the best, while none of them seem to think we
could get anyone else who would even be approximately as good. Unless
you forbid me I will therefore engage him, or rather authorize his engage-
ment by the Board. I also told them that you were inclined to think that
they should visit Birmingham or some such southern place, inasmuch as they
had already visited the east, that is, Pennsylvania, and the west, that is, Chi-
cago. I think your decision eminently wise, for otherwise we would have
to encounter a good deal of grumbling, suspicion and discontent; and, more-
over, I think it worth while to go down to Birmingham because they make
iron cheaper there.
From what the President and Judge Day say it would seem that advices
684
from Spain are not altogether satisfactory, and Lieutenant Dyer1 writes us
to the same effect. I do not anticipate any trouble, but if there is we should
have warning just as far in advance as the President will permit, and should
be ready to take the initiative at once. If in the event of trouble we wait to
receive the attack we will have our hands full, and the greatest panic would
ensue, but if we move with the utmost rapidity, with our main force on
Cuba say under Admiral Walker, and a flying squadron under Evans or some
such man against Spain itself, while the Asiatic squadron operates against the
Philippines, I believe the affair would not present a very great difficulty. I
understand entirely the difficulty in discussing such a matter when there is
no prospect of any trouble really occurring; nevertheless I think it is well to
be forehanded in the matter; so I gave the President a paper about where
our ships were, etc. He has been awfully nice. I shall be very glad to see
you. Faithfully yours
819 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, September 21, 1897
Dear Cabot: I shall not reply again to the Journal. Curiously enough, I did
it this time on a hint from the President, who I found to my astonishment
had taken the statements about the Indiana with entire seriousness and felt
much worried, and was correspondingly relieved when I told him that the
story was an absolute fake; that the damage done was a dent: at its deepest
point an inch and a half in depth, which in a battleship 350 feet long no one
but a trained expert would be able even to discover, and which, during the
month the vessel had been at sea, had not caused even the tiniest leak. How-
ever, I shan't have another interview.
The President has been most kind. I dined with him Friday evening, and
yesterday he sent over and took me out to drive again. I gave him a paper
showing exactly where all our ships are, and I also sketched in outline what
I thought ought to be done if things looked menacing about Spain, urging
the necessity of taking an immediate and prompt initiative if we wished to
avoid the chance of some serious trouble, & of the Japs chipping in. If we
get Walker with our main fleet on the Cuban coast within forty-eight hours
after war is declared — which we can readily do if just before the declara-
tion we gather the entire fleet at Key West; and if we put four big, fast,
heavily armed cruisers under, say, Evans, as a flying squadron to harass the
coast of Spain until some of the battleships are able to leave Cuba and go
there; and if at the same time we throw, as quickly as possible, an expedition-
ary force into Cuba, I doubt if the war would last six weeks so far as the
acute phase of it was concerned. Meanwhile, our Asiatic squadron should
blockade, and if possible take, Manila. But if we hesitate and let the Span-
iards take the initiative, they could give us great temporary annoyance by
1 George L. Dyer, naval attache* in Madrid.
685
sending a squadron off our coast, not to speak of the fact that if they were
given time, when once it was evident that war had to come, there would be
plenty of German and English, and possibly French, officers instructing
them how to lay mines and use torpedoes for the defense of the Cuban
ports. Besides we would have the Japs on our backs. However, I haven't the
slightest idea that there will be a war.
I am very much obliged to you for sending me Long's speech, and I
shall write to him at once about it. His allusions to me were most kind and
generous.
Yesterday I saw for the first time your new volume of essays,1 and I
read it all through again from beginning to end. I think they make as good
work of the kind as was ever done on this side of the water, and so far as I
know, the only work of the kind that has been done here by a man who
was a doer as well as a writer. I am particularly pleased that you put in
your article about our foreign policy. It was timely, and it all goes to build
up the body of public sentiment on the subject. I don't think the cover up
to the seriousness & weight of the essays.
Give my best love to Nanny. Faithfully yours
820 • TO JOHN HAY Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, September 21, 1897
My dear Mr. Ambassador: Just a line to say that I saw it rumored that you
have been asked to interest yourself in getting the British to give back to us
the frigate President, which they captured in 1815. 1 earnestly hope that you
will refuse to have anything to do with so preposterous and undignified an
effort. How any man with any self-respect can ask you to do such a thing
I don't see. To beg to be given back, as a favor, what was taken from us by
superior prowess, would be to put us in a position of intolerable humiliation.
When the British ask us to give back the flags and guns of the frigates and
sloops which we took in the War of 1812, then it will be quite time enough
for us to ask to get the President back. The President is of value to the
British Navy. She represents a prize which rewarded their foresight, dili-
gence and prowess. She is of no more value to us than the Macedonian or
Guerrilre or Java would be to the British if we were able to return them.
There are no heroic memories connected with her — very much the reverse.
All the President could teach us by her past deeds is what to avoid.
This account of the proposed effort to get the ship may be all a fake, in
which case I must ask your pardon for bothering you.
Remember me warmly to Mrs. Hay, and any other friends of mine — if
such exist.
My chief has been taking a holiday for two months, so I have been stead-
ily in Washington, but I have really greatly enjoyed it for I have been able
1 Certain Accepted Heroes.
686
to do two or three things in the Department which I have long really wished
to do. Faithfully yours
8 2 I • TO AVERT DE LANO ANDREWS RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, September 22, 1897
My dear Andrews: The enclosed explains itself. I always thought well of
old Londrigan.
By the way, I have written to Moss to say that I believed McCauley was
a good fellow. I hate to seem to be continually interfering, and I know you
understand that I am not really doing so; and I know you also understand
that I don't wish you ever to do more than treat a letter from me as a basis
for looking into a matter and then deciding it any way you see fit. You are
on the ground and know what ought to be done and I don't.
On October ist I shall be passing through New York, but shall have to
lunch with my sister. I should like very much to go down and catch a
glimpse of you in the morning. Are you going to be in New York that day?
If I go on by the night train, perhaps you will be willing to breakfast with
me. Faithfully yours
822 -TO WILLIAM WIRT KIMBALL RoOSevelt M.SS.
Washington, September 22, 1897
My dear Mr. Kimball: I am glad I wrote you about the Journal and World
people. They both resolutely intend to break down the Navy, and no man
connected with either paper can be trusted. While being polite to them, on
no account take a representative of either on any trip, and give them just
as little information as possible. But any proper courtesies you can show to
representatives of the Associated Press who come well accredited as respect-
able men, or to representatives of respectable papers, I should advise your
showing.
I should be very much obliged if you would write to the Editor of the
Sun and say that you would be glad to show their representative all you can
about the flotilla, and perhaps take one of them off, or rather send one of
them on any boat which may be going on a short trial trip. I wish you
would speak with Lieutenant Fremont about this, as he has already been in
communication with the Sun, and perhaps Pierpont Morgan,1 or young
Frank Platt,2 or some other person of more or less influence in New York
would like to visit the flotilla and be taken for a short spin in the bay. If we
can legitimately interest people in it I want to do so.
I have been doing everything to get the flotilla assembled under you by
October ist, and I believe you will have all five boats then. I told the Presi-
1 John Pierpont Morgan was then commodore of the New York Yacht Club.
* Frank Platt, son of Senator Thomas Collier Platt.
687
dent yesterday that after you had had them together a month I was sure
they would be fit for anything they might be called upon to do in the very
unlikely event of an emergency arising where there would be need of them.
Sincerely yours
823 • TO WILLIAM EATON CHANDLER RoOSCVelt
Washington, September 23, 1897
My dear Senator Chandler: I am overjoyed at seeing your letter to the Chief
of the Bureau of Ordnance. I have been going over the estimates, and have
been cutting down wherever I could on all the bureaus excepting the Bureau
of Ordnance. We do need auxiliary guns, and we do need smokeless powder,
shells, and torpedoes. I am doing my best to prevent them from asking for
too much for barracks, for new buildings, and for anything pertaining
merely to the comfort of the Department; but for what relates to its war-
like efficiency I feel we should strain every effort.
Tom Reed wrote me about that infernal gunboat that was taken away
from the Portsmouth Navy Yard. I only wish that either of you had written
to me before the boat went down to Boston. It's a case of live and learn. I
gave the order on the recommendation of the Bureau of Navigation, with-
out having the slightest idea that anyone would object, and thinking it would
be a good lesson to those who had been in charge of the work — as indeed
it was. Faithfully yours
824 • TO IRA NELSON HOLLIS Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, September 24, 1897
My dear Mr. Hollis: Many thanks for your letter. Weaver's letter made me
pretty indignant. I don't mind at all telling you in confidence that I am in
hearty sympathy with your plans as regards the line & engineers; but I
think I can do more to get the plan through by appearing to be (as of course
I shall be) entirely impartial in the matter.
Did I send you Captain Cooper's letter? It was as violent from the stand-
point of the line as Weaver's is from the standpoint of the engineers, al-
though it was not couched in such unpleasant terms. Have you seen Gideon
Wells' report on the subject, I think in 1865? What he says is very inter-
esting, and is really in line with what you say. We must amalgamate the
two; then, later, let those who have a real bent for engineering differentiate
themselves into an engineering corps. I don't think this will have to be a
very large corps if all the young officers are taught engineering and seaman-
ship just as they are now taught ordnance and seamanship.
If the Secretary will let me go ahead with that bill I shall try my luck.
Who would be a good engineer to put on a board to draft the bill? How
would Rae do? Very sincerely yowrs
688
825 * TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, September 24, 1897
Dear Cabot: Now don't be absurd and speak of yourself as carping or
critical in comments on me. All I perpetually fear is that your very great
over-appreciation of me may lead you to minimize, or rather to overlook
entirely, my very obvious faults. I entirely agree with you about not an-
swering the papers. I sha'n't do it again. I should never answer an attack
on myself, but when an attack on the Navy comes along it is sometimes hard
not to respond.
Long is just a dear. The Herald piece did render me a little uneasy be-
cause I was so afraid it might represent some feeling on his part that I was
usurping a position to which I was not entitled. He has wanted me to act
entirely independently while he was away, and to decide all these things
myself, even where I have written him that I was going to decide them in
a way that I doubted whether he would altogether like; and I have at times
been a litde nervous in the effort to steer the exact course between bother-
ing him on the one hand, and going ahead with something too widely diver-
gent from his views, on the other. However, on the whole I think he has
been satisfied with these two months during which I have had charge of
the Department. He is a man of whom one really becomes fond, and I am
looking forward to his return.
Really I cannot take very much interest in the solitary man against you
being beaten. I don't care whether you come in by a vote of four hundred
and odd to one, or of four hundred and odd to nothing. You are just as
certain of your next term in the Senate as you are finishing out your pres-
ent term! Seriously, I am of course delighted to know that even this little
pebble has been kicked out of the way.
Next week I hope to get back to Oyster Bay for a fortnight. Faithfully
yours
826 • TO BELLAMY STOKER Roosevelt
Washington, September 26, 1897
Dear Bellamy: It was the greatest pleasure to receive your letter. Always
excepting Mrs. Storer I think you are about the best letter-writer I know.
Her two last letters, one to Mrs. Roosevelt and one to Alice Lee, were, I
thought, as interesting and amusing bits of correspondence as could be found
anywhere in literature. Tell her I especially loved the anecdote of the stork
as a mammal.
Did you get the pictures of the small scoundrel children which I sent
you? I haven't seen them for two months, and am very homesick for them;
but I have had to be here steadily through August and September, as the
1 Lodge, I, 279-280.
689
Secretary was away. He returns tomorrow, and I shall leave almost imme-
diately. However, I have thoroughly enjoyed the two months, for I believe
so much in this work, and I feel I can accomplish something here.
I am very much obliged to you for the hint about my namesake. I shall
decline to be mixed up with him in any way.
Immediately after receiving your letter in came Lieutenant Harris. I took
a real fancy to him. He seems a particularly gentlemanly and good fellow;
and you would be amused to hear the enthusiasm with much he speaks of
both of you. Evidently your advent and the contrast you were to your
predecessor took an immense load off his heart, and also to the gaiety of
one nation at least, for the Brussels people had seemingly suffered a good
deal by the presence of Mr. Ewing.1
Indeed I am glad that you are in Brussels, and not in the absolutely im-
possible position which you would have been in as Ass't Secretary under
Sherman, and with the present condition of affairs in Ohio. I know just how
you feel, for it's exactly the way I feel about New York. At present the
mean scoundrels in the republican party in my native city are deliberately
striving against decency and for corruption, and are trying to gain their
ends by pretended frantic adoration of the banner of sound money. I don't
know how it will come out, but upon my word I almost feel that Tammany
itself will be preferable to having a republican administration of New York
City begun under the worst and most corrupt auspices. They have nominated
Tracy, who is a very good figurehead and an able man, but I think he has
some as despicable qualities as any man I know.
I am glad you like Imperiali. He always struck me as a simple kindly
soul. Give him my warm regards.
These naval men are fine fellows. I am really very fond of them, so not
only the work, but the companionship, is congenial. I have also developed
a playmate in the shape of Dr. Wood of the Army,2 an Apache campaigner
and graduate of Harvard, two years later than my class. You will probably
take a grim satisfaction in the fact that last Sunday he fairly walked me
down in the course of a scramble home from Cabin John Bridge down the
other side of the Potomac over the cliffs.
Need I say that we will be only too glad always to do whatever we
can for Joe? Unfortunately we can't have him stay with us in the winter,
because there is a child in every cranny of the house, and he would have
to room with your godson, but we shall get him over whenever he can
come on Sundays.
1 James Stevenson Ewing, United States Minister to Belgium, 1893-1897.
'Leonard Wood, doctor, soldier, military and colonial administrator. By 1897 he
had already won public attention through his services as physician and commander
of troops in the campaign against Geronimo. His long friendship with Roosevelt
was permanently established by their joint recruitment and training of the First
U.S. Volunteer Cavalry (the Rough Riders) and by their common participation in
the Spanish-American War.
690
The President has been very pleasant with me indeed. I dined and went
out driving with him a couple of times on his recent stay here, when, as
I explained to him, I was the hot-weather Secretary. I hope he stands up to
the racket which he surely will have to face, both on civil service reform
and on other matters. I also very earnestly hope that both the President and
the Secretary will insist upon going on with building up our Navy, and
give us new dry docks, new battleships, and plenty of torpedo boats.
Do write me occasionally; it is so interesting to hear about your doings
at Brussels, and to get full particulars of your dinners with the King and
Queen and the people you meet; and I am so very glad that you are both
evidently really enjoying yourselves to the full.
With warm love to Airs. Storer, believe me, Ever faithfully yours
827 • TO WILLIAM EATON CHANDLER RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, September 27, 1897
My dear Senator: Your letter delighted me, as your letters always do. I
think the criticism of Lodge's "lack of literary faculty" is delicious. I must
certainly be allowed to take the "tuck" out of him by using that bit of in-
formation.
Now, when men of influence, even though not of wealth! (you see I
have learned my lesson) champion the causes of a man, I have some hesi-
tancy in going against them; but before you commit yourself definitely to
Commodore Howell I wish very much you would let me have a chance
to talk with you. I have seen a good deal of him in connection with this
Armor Board. He is an honorable man, and a man of great inventive capac-
ity, but I have rarely met one who strikes me as less fit for a responsible
position. To take a definite case I hardly know of a man of high rank in
the Navy whom I should be more reluctant to see entrusted with a squad-
ron or fleet under peculiar circumstances, such as actual or possible hostili-
ties with Spain. He is irresolute; and he is extremely afraid of responsibility.
In this armor plate business I have been entirely unable to get from him
original statements of what he thinks can or cannot be done; and he went
to work with extreme slowness and complete lack of appreciation of what
the actual needs of the moment were.
I am writing you of course entirely confidentially, and as freely as I
always do. My private letters go on a private file; not on the official file
of the Department; and I shall take this private file away with me. It con-
tains various expressions of opinion which, though set forth with studied
moderation, as is my wont, nevertheless might cause comment if published.
I shall of course give your letter to the Secretary at once upon his return;
but you and I feel alike, not only on foreign policy, but on the kind of
man who should carry out the foreign policy, and if, which I scarcely dare
691
hope for, we do take vigorous action we must have it taken by men under
whom there is no chance of failure. Faithfully yours
[Handwritten] You have really flattered me by your interest in my
Benton. I am very anxious to see you. I hope you wo'n't think I am over-
frank about Commodore Howell.
828 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, September 29, 1897
Dear Cabot: The Secretary came last night. He is just as kind and cordial
as possible. I really think he is pleased with what I have done.
I don't disagree with either of you about floating docks. I think that
we ought to have one because it can be used for certain contingencies that
others cannot be, and because it is so much cheaper and quicker to build.
But concrete docks are what we really need; and especially one concrete
dock in Boston.
Now about Wilson. I hope that later we can give him his old place, but
I don't think it can be done now. It could only be done by turning out or
down some man concerning whom there is an excellent report and this the
Secretary will not do. I had a place all arranged for him, but the comman-
dant of the yard wrote that there was no need of it and that he did not
recommend its being filled. I wrote him saying that I desired to put the
man in if there was any work he could properly do; and he wrote back
that there was not any work and reiterated his recommendation that the
vacancy be not filled.
Barrett has been clamoring for places so much that I had a little brush
with him about the shipkeepers. When the Secretary left it seemed there
would be two vacancies as shipkeeper, and he told Barrett he could have
them. However, later it turned out there were three. I gave Barrett the two
which the Secretary had said he should have, but I did not hold myself
bound to give him the third, about which I telegraphed to you and ulti-
mately put in Maccabe's man. This, and my putting in Wilson instead of
one of the veterans whom Barrett recommended, evidently angered him not
a little, and he wrote me, in effect asserting his claims to all the places in
the navy yard. I wrote him very politely but very firmly in return, and
have not heard from him since.
I have had one or two horrid times with the patronage. I got on all
right with the Grand Army men in New York, and indeed I think with the
Congressmen there and Senator Platt — at any rate so far as I know; but
in Norfolk a G. A. R. man got drunk and was absent for a week (which
he himself stated in his telegram now on file) and before he could be re-
moved he resigned. Twelve days afterward the commander of the local post
demanded his reinstatement. I refused, stating the facts, and he then wrote
me a grossly impertinent and abusive letter, to which I simply responded
692
that when he learned how to write a proper letter I should answer it and
not before. I have kept the correspondence complete.
What swine those Pennsylvanians are! Even so good a fellow as Bing-
ham1 is almost impossible to deal with, and Boies Penrose2 is worse. They
have almost had epilepsy over a promotion from a $1200 to a $1400 clerk-
ship, made under the rules in accordance with the recommendation of the
commandant, just as we have made promotion after promotion in Brook-
lyn and Boston. It never occurred to me to consult them about it any more
than I would have consulted you or Platt about similar affairs, for of course
I knew nothing of the man's record and simply acted on the recommenda-
tion of the commandant. But this procedure very nearly gave them a fit.
I have just had Bingham to lunch to smooth him down.
By the way, Penrose asked for an increase of salary for the League Island
shipkeepers. I spoke to the Secretary in reference to your request, but he
seemed rather disinclined to make any increases, fearing it would involve
increases all along the line.
Indeed New York politics are in a muss! Low was exceedingly foolish
to let the ultra-wing of the Citizens' Union force him into such a position;
and this same wing has dominated the policy of the Gtizens' Union with
most disastrous results. On the other hand, the antics of the New York
machine have passed belief. The fraud in conducting the primaries is now
so open that it does not attract the least attention and is hardly even al-
luded to in the papers. But this year it has been carried fairly to the last
point in the determination not to allow Low a delegate from New York.
It was silly because it was entirely unnecessary. He would not have had,
at the outside, more than 25, who could not have created even a fight;
but in order to prevent so much as one being chosen, tactics were em-
ployed which no morality could have allowed and for which there was
no excuse on the ground of self-preservation. In my own district they voted
Tammany men openly, laughing and boasting about it; and for fear this
might not win they changed the place of meeting at the last moment, noti-
fying their own people by word of mouth, and the others by postal cards
which were received the following day. Moreover, having taken their stand
upon the "responsible Republican party government," they proceeded to
nominate Ashbel P. Fitch as controller — as dirty a dog as I ever met in
political life — and declined to give any approval whatever to Strong's ad-
ministration, which with all its faults has been the best the city has had for
half a century. One secret of running both Tracy and Fitch is their dealings
with the large corporations which are vitally interested in the privileges to
be secured either from the legislature or the municipal authorities, and
whose contributions, or more plainly blackmail, have been the base of Platt's
power. Still, all this does not excuse in the least the worse than idiotic con-
1 Henry Harrison Bingham, Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, 1879-1907.
3 Boies Penrose, Republican senator from Pennsylvania, 1897-1921,
693
duct of the Citizens' Union, and I am heartily glad I am out of it all. You
may imagine, by the way, the wild appeals I am receiving from Mrs. Jose-
phine Shaw Lowell, and others of that stamp.
I was delighted with Arlo Bates' book.8 It seemed to me as good as any-
thing of the kind I have recently read and I am going to bring it on to
Edith.
For the next fortnight I shall be at Oyster Bay. Edith forwarded me
Nannie's letter which I greatly enjoyed reading. Faithftilly yours
P.S. Your note has just come. I have seen Peters and asked for a note
from him. He tells me that Edgerly cannot be promoted to foreman except
as the result of a competitive examination, wherein the mark, however, is
given upon his record and upon the judgment of the board; but Naval Con-
structor Feaster can make him Quarterman. I wish you would write him a
line yourself suggesting his doing so. I don't believe the Secretary would
do it, or would allow me to do it, but, if you say so, I will try.
I asked the Secretary's permission today to talk to him very seriously
about the need for an increase in the Navy, and the damage which the
opposite course might do to America and the republican party and the ad-
ministration and himself, telling him that I wanted to speak plainly because I
so esteemed and admired him, and I wanted his administration to be a suc-
cess. He listened to me with the greatest fairness and with the utmost
attention, and I half believe that I made some impression on him.
829 • TO ARLO BATES RoOSCVelt
Washington, September 29, 1897
My dear Mr. Bates: Just a line to say how very much I have enjoyed your
volume of essays just out. Cabot Lodge wrote me calling my attention to
it, and I owe him a debt of gratitude. Having numerous small children of
my own I am pleased to find that we are doing just what you advise in the
way of giving them reading matter. They read every one of the books you
enumerate, and like yourself, I take just as much enjoyment in them as they
do — though I have always had a dreadful mental limitation about the first
and most popular part of Robinson Crusoe, and about a good deal of the
Arabian Nights. I am happy to say that this is not shared by either Mrs.
Roosevelt or the children.
It did me good to see the straightforward fashion in which you dealt
with Maeterlinck, Ibsen, Verlaine, Tolstoi and the decadents generally. I
wish Howells could be persuaded to read and profit by what you have
written!
It seems to me, however, that both Meredith and Hardy in his latter
8 Talks on the Study of Literature (Boston, 1897), by Arlo Bates, literary talent in
Boston, professor of English at MJ.T., poet, novelist, essayist, critic — all in the
genteel and benign tradition.
694
books, beginning with Tess show distinct symptoms of the same disease, al-
though it takes very different forms in the two cases. Moreover, I always
feel like putting in a plea for Longfellow. I think there will be a revival of
appreciation for Longfellow sometime. He is more than simply sweet and
wholesome. His ballad-like poetry, such as "The Saga of King Olaf," "The
Discovery of the North Cape," "Belisarius," and others, especially of the
sea have it seems to me the strength as well as the simplicity that marks
Walter Scott and the old English ballad writers. However, I may be a crank
about this, for I am extremely fond of a great deal of Macaulay's ballad
poetry, in spite of all the fustian that there is in parts of it.
I must really thank you for a number of most pleasant hours. Very sin-
cerely yours
830-10 JOHN DAVIS LONG National Archives
Washington, September 30, 1897
Sir: The steady growth of our country in wealth and population, and its
extension by the acquisition of non-contiguous territory in Alaska, and at
the same time the steady growth of the old naval powers of the world, and
the appearance of new ones, such as Germany and Japan, with which it is
possible that one day we may be brought into contact, make me feel that
I should respectfully, and with all possible earnestness, urge the advisability
of the Navy Department doing all it can to further a steady and rapid up-
building of our Navy. We cannot hope to rival England. It is probably not
desirable that we should rival France; while Russia's three-fold sea front,
and Italy's peculiar position, render it to the last degree improbable that we
shall be cast into hostile contact with either of them. But Japan is steadily
becoming a great naval power in the Pacific, where her fleet already sur-
passes ours in strength; and Germany shows a tendency to stretch out for
colonial possessions which may at any moment cause a conflict with us. In
my opinion our Pacific fleet should constantly be kept above that of Japan,
and our naval strength as a whole superior to that of Germany. It does not
seem to me that we can afford to invite responsibility and shirk the burden
that we thus incur; we cannot justify ourselves for retaining Alaska and
annexing Hawaii unless we provide a Navy sufficient to prevent all chance
of either being taken by a hostile power; still less have we any right to
assert the Monroe Doctrine in the American hemisphere unless we are ready
to make good our assertion with our warships. A great navy does not make
for war, but for peace. It is the cheapest kind of insurance. No coast for-
tifications can really protect our coasts; they can only be protected by a
formidable fighting navy. If through any supineness or false economy on
our part, we fail to provide plenty of ships of the best type, thoroughly
fitted in every way, we run the risk of causing the nation to suffer some
disaster more serious than it has ever before encountered — a disaster which
695
would warp and stunt our whole national life, for the moral effect would
be infinitely worse than the material. We invite such a disaster if we fail to
have a sufficiency of the best ships, and fail to keep both our materiel and
personnel up to the highest conditions.
I believe that Congress should at once give us six (6) new battleships,
two (2) to be built on the Pacific and four (4) on the Atlantic; six (6)
large cruisers, of the size of the Brooklyn, but in armament more nearly
approaching the Argentine vessel San Martin; and seventy-five (75) tor-
pedo boats, twenty-five (25) for the Pacific and fifty (50) for the Atlantic.
I believe that we should set about building all these craft now, and that each
one should be, if possible, the most formidable of its kind afloat.
We should at once build new dry docks. With the additions which are
outlined above we should need to have one more dry dock for the largest
battleships on the Pacific coast, and three more on the Atlantic coast; that
is, four extra, although we probably could get along with only two extra.
Many of our cruisers and battleships are armed, in part, with the slow-
fire six-inch gun, a weapon which is now obsolete. It would be cruel to pit
these vessels against hostile vessels nominally of the same type, but armed
with modern rapid-fire guns. The vessels could be doubled in effectiveness
by substituting the converted rapid-fire six-inch guns for the old style guns
as rapidly as possible. There are ninety-five of these old style guns in the
service. The conversion would cost about $1,000 per gun. We should have
guns for all auxiliary cruisers; we now have almost none. The greatest need
at the moment is smokeless powder. Smokeless powder would greatly in-
crease the power and rapidity of the fire, and would be of great tactical ad-
vantage. We should get two million pounds at once, in order to completely
outfit our ships. This would probably cost $1,500,000. For $100,000 all our
armor-piercing shell should be capped, loaded and fused. We should provide
a reasonable reserve supply of projectiles (about nine thousand in all) so as
to permit a complete refill of aU the ships.
If we stop building up the Navy now it will put us at a great disadvan-
tage when we go on. The greatest difficulty was experienced when we began
our work on the new Navy in 1883. We had to train the workmen and the
designers; we had to build factories, and make tools. The difference between
such a vessel as the Texas and such a vessel as the Indiana will illustrate the
cost to the country of carrying on such an experiment. We are now in a
situation to build up a navy commensurate with our needs, provided the
work is carried on continuously, for the era of experiment has passed, and
we possess designs suitable for our own use, with types of vessels equal to
those of any other power. But if the work is interrupted, and new vessels
are not begun, we shall soon find it necessary to start all over again, as we
did in 1883, and to reinstruct the men and manufacturers and re-educate the
officers and designers and re-experiment with the designs. It would be dif-
ficult to calculate the course we should incur by such a proceeding; and
696
meanwhile we should be exposing the country to the possibility of the bit-
terest humiliation. Very respectfully
831 • TO SETH LOW RoOSCVelt
Private and Confidential Washington, October 15, 1897
Aty dear Low: As soon as I got back here I saw the President. He told me
positively that he was taking no stand one way or the other in the New
York contest, and should not take any stand, and that Bliss had acted purely
on his own responsibility. The President has refused to make the local ap-
pointments which Platt earnestly desired, because of their possible effect on
this contest. His Private Secretary, John Addison Porter, is for you, and
when I told my chief, Secretary Long, how I stood, he said I was quite
right and that he should vote for you if he were in New York. You prob-
ably saw that, after Butterworth's statements as to the President wishing
to see Tracy elected, Porter had an interview in the Brooklyn Eagle in
which he emphasized the fact that the President was not taking part in the
campaign. I only wish I could be on the stump for you, for I have hardly
ever felt more interested in anyone's success. All that I could do on the
quiet has been done. My great friend in my distirct, the ex-President of
the Board of Excise under Mayor Strong, Joseph Murray, has been doing
valiant work for you. Somehow I have begun to feel very hopeful of the
result recently! Faithfully yours
832 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Oyster Bay, October 16, 1897
Dear Cabot, I think you did very wisely in refusing to mix yourself in this
ugly contest. There is too much intricate folly on both sides. Imagine mak-
ing a deal with the George2 men after refusing even to confer with the
Republicans, on the ground that deals were abhorrent! And the "Cits"
Union have as a leader Reynolds8 who sizes up below the level of an ordi-
nary election district captain.
1 Lodge, I, 287-288.
•Henry George was again campaigning for mayor. After he died, shortly before
election day, his son replaced him, running a poor fourth.
* James Bronson Reynolds, New York City lawyer and social worker. After four
years abroad studying sociology and social problems, Reynolds, in 1894, became
headworker of the University Settlement of New York. He was an active member
of the Committee of Seventy in 1893, chairman of the executive committee of the
Citizens' Union in the campaign of 1897, and later, in 1902-1903, secretary to Mayor
Low. Roosevelt gave him several appointments: to the State Tenement House Com-
mission in 1900, to the special Presidential commission to investigate the Chicago
Stock Yards in 1906, to the special Presidential commission to investigate industrial
conditions at Panama, and as a special adviser to the President on municipal affairs
in Washington, D. C.
697
On the other hand, the Republicans are running on a "straight party"
issue, with Fitch, a free trader, a double traitor, in the second place; and
denounce Low for voting twice for Cleveland when the Judge who is our
only nominee on the State ticket did so three times. Moreover the really
ugly feature in the Republican canvass is that it does represent exactly
what the populists say, that is corrupt wealth. The Pierpont Morgan type
of men forced Fitch on the ticket; and both Platt and Tracy represent the
powerful, unscrupulous politicians who charge heavily for doing the work
— sometimes good, sometimes bad — of the bankers, railroad men, insur-
ance men and the like. I am glad I am out of it. I would have no heart in
a campaign against my own organization; and yet I could not with self re-
spect support men who have done everything they could to nullify the work
I did for two years, whose triumph would mean the undoing of much of
that work, who have declined to endorse Strong's administration, and whose
rule would be but one degree better than that of Tammany — while nine-
teen out of twenty of my staunch supporters are on the other side.
I'll wire you from Cleveland whether I'll be at Nahant the evening of
the 2oth, or meet you at the Old South the following day. Yours
P. S. — As for the election, no man can now foretell which candidate
will come out ahead. Van Wyck has the call.
833 'TO CARL SCHURZ SchuTZ MSS.°
Oyster Bay, October 18, 1897
Dear Mr Schurz, I was very glad to get your letter. When, to my utter
astonishment, Bliss came out,1 I at once wrote to Washington to ask that
I might come out; but was informed in return that this could not be al-
lowed. I am so interested in the campaign that I have felt like resigning my
present position; but, when I had just begun my duties, this seemed an ab-
surd thing to do. I shall look forward eagerly to your speech. Do keep
Republicans like Strong, McCook & Swayne2 as much in the foreground as
possible. The wish may be father to the thought; but it does seem to me
that Low is growing at the expense of Tracy. I hope to elect him, but he
must beat Tracey Faithfrily yours
834-10 JACOB AUGUST Rus Roosevelt Mss.
Private Washington, October 25, 1897
My dear Mr. Riis: As usual you have acted just right. Mrs. Lowell has
been very unreasonable — extremely so. I asked permission of the President
1 Secretary Bliss had come out for Tracy.
•Wager Swayne, New York lawyer, Republican, philanthropist and reformer, as
distinguished in civil life as he had been as a Union general. He was supporting Low,
as were Strong and McCook.
698
to take part in this campaign, and he told me with the greatest emphasis
that I must not interfere, and that he himself would keep neutral. When
Bliss came out for Tracy I asked permission again to come out for Low,
and again the President told me I must not. I spoke to Carl Schurz and
John Kennedy Todd l about it, and both said it would be foolish in the
highest degree for me to resign my position here when it doesn't seem as
if I could do an amount of work that would be worth the sacrifice. All that
I could do quietly I of course have done.
Indeed the story you tell me touches me deeply. My beloved friend,
does not even your modesty see that those two little mites came to Police
Headquarters because of what you had done, and not I? When I went to
the Police Department it was on your book that I had built, and it was on
you yourself that I continued to build. Whatever else I did there was done
because I was trying, with much stumbling and ill success, but with gen-
uine effort, to put into practice the principles you had set forth, and
to live up to the standard you had established. And all the trials and every-
thing else count for nothing compared with the fact that we were able to
do a little.
I am sorry you couldn't join me at lunch, but am consoled in knowing
that you and Mrs. Riis will be in Washington this winter. I shall have Sen-
ator and Mrs. Lodge to meet you, and probably my chief, Secretary Long,
too.
Let me know about your boy from time to time; and do write me occa-
sionally, for I prize your letters more than I can say. Faithfully yours
835 • TO STANLEY WATERLOO RoOSCVelt Ms*.
Washington, October 26, 1897
Dear Mr. Waterloo: 1 It is not often that I open a book with the genuine
interest with which I have already opened yours and read the first two or
three chapters. You may remember how I liked your one or two first efforts
in this line, and I congratulate you and congratulate myself on the fact that
you have elaborated them, and have done it so well as in The Story of Ab.
I have not read more than a third of the book yet, but that I have been inter-
ested in it may be proved from the fact that I have been reading it in the
intervals of my regular work during the day; and I am a rather hard- worked
man.
The ways of primitive man have always been of all-absorbing interest to
1 John Kennedy Todd, New York financier, member of the firm of John S. Ken-
nedy & Co., which had interests in many railroads; Mugwump, active in anti-
Tammany movements.
1 Stanley Waterloo, journalist, founder of the St. Paul Day (1884), at this time an
editorial writer on the Chicago Tribune, author of A Man and a Woman, The Story
of Ab, The Wolfs Long Howl, and other novels.
699
me, and I have come to the conclusion that it is only the good novelist who
can teach us the best part of history — the history of the life itself. You give
me the idea of Ab that Sienkiewicz does of Zagloba & the lyth-century Poles.
With hearty thanks, and very sincere congratulations to you upon having
written such an admirable story, I am, Faithfully yours
836 • TO FREDERIC REMINGTON
Washington, October 26, 1897
My dear Remington: I am almost ashamed to take your beautiful book; but
I am going to take it, for nobody could have given me anything which I
would value so much. You know you are one of the men who tend to
keep alive my hope in America!
It was great fun having you down aboard the White Squadron. You
never will care for the ship as you do for the horse and his many, many
riders; but you must like the ship, too, and the man aboard in particular,
for he is simple and honorable; and he works hard, and if need be is willing
to die hard. Always yours
[Handwritten] I like your backwoods ranger almost as much as your
cowpuncher, redskin and trouper.
837 • TO WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE Roosevelt
Washington, October 26, 1897
My dear Mr. White: x I take the liberty of sending you herewith a little book
of mine called American Ideals. I don't know anyone who has fought more
valiantly or more faithfully than you have fought to bring about the reali-
zation of some of these ideals; and so I want to have the pleasure of send-
ing you the little volume.
May I not hope that you will be back in Washington sometime next
winter? Faithfully yours
838 • TO WILLIAM EATON CHANDLER Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, October 26, 1897
My dear Senator: Your letters always interest and always entertain me; but
oh, Bentonian Senator from New Hampshire, you are altogether too sus-
picious about that dock board; I never told them a thing as to which they
were to report, excepting that I wanted them to give me the exact facts,
and I made but one suggestion, and that was that inasmuch as I cared in-
1 William Allen White describes his first meeting with Roosevelt, early in 1897, in
his Autobiography (New York, 1946), p. 297: %e sounded in my heart the first
trumpet call of the time that was to be. ... I was afire with the splendor of the
personality that I had met. ... I had never known such a man as he, and never
shall again. He overcame me."
700
finitely more to get a dry dock than where that dry dock was, that if they
could conscientiously say something in favor of League Island and Ports-
mouth I hoped they would. When the report was ready I asked about this,
but they told me that if they were to report conscientiously as officers
what would be best for the Navy, they could not do other than they have
done; and that, in particular, Portsmouth was a very bad place for a dock.
Now, as I say, what I want is the dock. I want it, if I can get it, in the
best place, and I shall be very sorry to see a repetition of our Port Royal ex-
perience as to locality, or our New York dock as to material; but I am
accustomed to making the best of things, and if we have got to have an-
other dock in the wrong place or none, why we have to take the dock in
the wrong place; and if it isn't too hopelessly wrong I should be glad to
get it.
The contract with the Bath Iron Works for the construction of Gun-
boat #12, Newport, was dated November 15, 1895, and provided for the
completion of that vessel and her delivery at the navy yard, Portsmouth,
N. H., "on or before the expiration of fifteen months from date of con-
tract," to wit, February 15, 1897. She was delivered at Portsmouth, N. H.,
June 22, 1897, and preliminarily accepted as provided for in the contract
July 6th following, having been preliminarily tried on the 2 5th of May. A
further requirement of the contract provides for a final trial to take place
within four months from date of preliminary acceptance, in this case before
November 8th.
Certain work not required by the specifications — a part of the contract
— such as coppering, masting, etc., was to be done by the government after
preliminary acceptance. Because of the slow progress made in preparing the
vessel at the Portsmouth Yard for final trial, and for fear that she would
not be ready for such trial within the time prescribed by the contract as
above stated, the Department felt that it was for the best interests of the
Government to transfer the Newport to the Navy Yard at Boston. Very
sincerely yours
8 3 9 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MSS.Q
Washington, October 28, 1897
Darling Bye, You were just too good to send me for my birthday the very
thing I wished; indeed the only thing I wished; and in such handsome bind-
ing. I am so glad to get it! If I had bought it I would never have got it
in such a handsome covering.
Edith and all the family reached here safely. This morning I took the
two little boys round and put them in the Public School, where they both
seem to have started well. Tomorrow, for my sins, I start on a dusty jaunt
to Ohio, at the President's request, to speak for Hanna.
The Secretary has been a dear, as he always is; I only wish I could poi-
701
son his mind so as to make him a shade more truculent in international
matters.
I shall be coming to New York about the nth; shall I find you at home?
Yours ever
840 • TO WILLIAM STURGIS BIGELOW ROOSevelt MSS.
Washington, October 29, 1897
My dear Bigelow: First let me tell you how much I enjoyed the evening
at your house. It was the greatest pleasure.
Next, as to the subject of your letter. I referred it to the Bureau of Ord-
nance. Captain O'Neil seemed to think it was what is technically called "a
horse on Davis." I have not viewed it before in this light, but I now hope
that it is, and so I have promptly sent it to Davis, and shall await his expla-
nation, which will, I trust, show considerable feeling and possibly some little
temper. I like to ingratiate myself with my friends!
I think what O'Neil says answers your question pretty fully. I would
add, furthermore, that in the days of the old smooth-bore guns the ships
were very close and in reality hardly any aim was taken. But as they wal-
lowed through the water, fifty yards or so apart, it was found that the
shots were more apt to strike the adversary's hull if they were fired when
the gun was pointing down than if it was pointing up.
Now the whole truth is exactly as you say, that it is a matter of that
kind of skill which we call "knack." In each ship's crew there is a limited
number of men who can become first-class gun pointers, and only a limited
number. We have tried the experiment of making the petty officers cap-
tains of the guns, and it does not work well; and now we are trying to
develop gun pointers pure and simple.
I myself have no natural skill with firearms, and indeed very little with
any form of pursuit needing physical and manual dexterity and accuracy
of eye. I never learned to shoot quick, and the rifle is the only weapon
with which I became even fairly skillful. I have been moderately successful
with game simply because I got to fire as well at game as at a target; and
though this was not very well, yet it was better than what most first-class
target shots would do if unused to game shooting.
I did not do any sub-calibre practice myself, but I had great sport on
the Dolphin with a rapid-fire six-pounder gun; and I found that personally
I could do best by shooting when the ship's side was rising, getting the gun
in position, and then, just as the front sight touched the target on the way
up, pulling trigger. But in trying to fire rapidly it is, of course, impossible
to pay heed to the rising or falling of the ship. I think myself that alto-
gether too much is sacrificed to rapidity of fire. The number of hits is what
counts.
702
I am going to use your letter as a basis for trying to get some reforms
in our target practice, so you see you have done good work by writing.
Faithfully yours
841 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE RoOS€Velt
Washington, October 29, 1897
Dear Cabot: Most certainly I shall keep that gem from Charles Eliot Nor-
ton.1 If we are threatened with a domination of his kind I am not only for
Platt and Lauterbach, but I am for Croker and Sheehan. Anything is prefer-
able to that stuff.
Now about Ripley. As you know, I originally recommended the dis-
charge of the Italian captain of the watch and the reinstatement of Ripley in
his place. The Secretary didn't act; why I don't know; and he has since taken
the Ripley case into his own hands and has written to Maccabe about it.
However, I have also started on my own hook and am going to see if I
can't work it through. The Secretary's letter was in effect that the semi-
annual report showed the Italian, the present incumbent, to be a good man;
and, in consequence, there is no vacancy. I at once looked up the report
about him, and, sure enough, the Captain of the Yard, Captain Phillip, gave
him a mark of «88» for character and quantity of work, which would show
him to be well above the average. In view of Howison's statement I have
written to Howison to see if there is not an explanation. If Howison will
stand up to his guns and say that he is not competent, a fact of which I am
absolutely certain, I will recommend that the Secretary reduce him forth-
with and put Ripley in his place.
Word has just come over the telegraph that George died this morning
of apoplexy. This greatly complicates the New York fight. I believe the
bulk of his vote will go to Van Wyck and Low. As you say, the conduct
of the Low people and of Low in not insisting upon some kind of union
with the republicans was not merely stupid, but from the civic standpoint
almost criminal. The explanation they all give me is that they have been
betrayed so often and lied to so often when they have tried to go in with
Platt, Quigg, Lauterbach & Co., that they were afraid to have any dealings
with them. There is a great deal of truth in this, but the fact remains that
they unquestionably ought to have taken the risk. It was the only thing
to do. Some of the machine men might have knifed them, but they would
have gotten the great bulk of the vote that will now go for Tracy; and
though they would have alienated some tens of thousands of men they
would have more than made up the difference. What a grim comedy the
whole canvass is! The Low men hand in glove with Henry George, and
making deals with him alone, refuse even to confer with the republicans
1 Charles Eliot Norton, professor of the history of art at Harvard, 1874-1898.
703
on the ground that deals are immoral. The republicans are running a straight
ticket because only straight tickets are proper, and putting upon it in the
second highest place a democrat who is a renegade republican and a man
of exceedingly bad character; and Henry George has with him on the ticket
for comptroller a gold democrat, Dayton, who last year refused to support
his party on the silver issue, and now runs on the ticket which is largely
gotten up as a rebuke to Tammany because it didn't come out flatfooted
for silver. Did I tell you that Amos Cummings the other day told me he
thought Low had an even chance of election, as Van Wyck was weak, and
Tracy had no show whatever? On the other hand the regular republicans
I think are sincere in their belief that though Tracy may be beaten by Van
Wyck, he will beat Low. P.S. Word has just come of George's death. What
this will result in I don't know.
I start today to make my speech at Columbus for Hanna. They are evi-
dently suffering from apathy out in Ohio. They have made a foolish cam-
paign. Instead of trying to get speakers of national importance in New York,
where their presence arouses animosity, they should have put them into
Ohio where they would have aroused enthusiasm.
Well, I guess you can understand more than ever now why I feel a bit
lonely in the politics of New York, and why I welcomed such a glimpse
as I got of you at Nahant. Tell Nannie I had a long and very nice letter
from Mrs. Chandler. Of course she has heard from her too. Always yours
P.S. — There is one phase of this New York matter that has not at-
tracted general attention. Platt's attitude has done more than anything else
to jeopardize republican success in Maryland. This I was told by various
Maryland republicans. Our chance of carrying Maryland depends upon
having the sound money democrats vote with us. Platt's position in New
York (in spite of his alliance with Fitch!) is that we must have a mere
straight ticket, and must absolutely decline joining with the independent
element. In consequence, I am informed on every side that the people in
Maryland and in Kentucky who would have been with us are feeling re-
luctant to come with us. I very firmly believe that if Platt had endorsed
Low and gone in for him from the beginning, there wouldn't have been
a question of our ousting Gorman and gaining a United States Senator. P.S.
Your telegram has just come. I forgot to tell you that I proposed to Maj.
Meade2 to extend the time until January and he told me that it ought not
to be done; that there was no reason why it should be delayed later than
November ist. I asked him again and again, and he insisted that he did not
wish there to be any delay in the matter. I have now in the absence of the
Secretary today taken the responsibility of making the delay for one month,
and I shall beg him as soon as he comes back to extend it until January ist.
Whether he will or not I don't know.
•Robert Leamy Meade, Marine officer attached to the Boston Navy Yard.
704
842'TO GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM RoOSCVelt
Private Washington, November i, 1897
Dear Haven: First — a moment about politics. I am very glad that you
approved of my course in the New York campaign. Indeed I had no other
to follow, as the President particularly desired me to keep out, and em-
phatically requested that I should do so. I have made not the slightest secret
of my own preference. I have sent money to our local Citizens' Union, and
have told Low himself, Carl Schurz, Godkin, John Kennedy Todd, and
yourself how I felt, and have refused every request from the republicans
either for money or to have my name used as a vice-president at their
meetings, etc. I can't say how earnestly I hope for Low's victory tomorrow.
I was more than pleased with the way you got up the American Ideals.
I want to say further that the President assured me personally that he
had not expressed to anyone the slightest preference in the campaign, and
that Bliss acted on his own responsibility (and I may add, very unwisely).
The President's Private Secretary, John Addison Porter, and my chief, Sec-
retary Long, are both for Low; and the President declined positively Platt's
request to make certain appointments before the election in order to influ-
ence the election.
Now, about Paul Jones. He hardly seems to me to size up big enough
for a Hero of the Nations. He did have a dramatic and spectacular career;
but if the series should include any American naval man it should be Far-
ragut, as far as mark is concerned. I myself would not have time to write
about Paul Jones, and I think you will not only appreciate, but will ap-
prove, my decision when I tell you that it is because I don't wish to be
diverted from going on at the earliest possible opportunity with the Win-
ning of the West. Both Longman's and Macmillan have just requested me to
write certain volumes for them. I have refused in each case because I don't
want to undertake any work that will cost me too much labor until I have
made headway with the Winning of the West. For some litde time to come
I can't work even at that, and I shall try to jot down various chapters of
reminiscences of my police work in New York; but as soon as I get things
running in a groove in this office, as I will in six months or so more, I want
to begin to get the materials together for my next volumes of the Winning
of the West. As you know, there are to be four of them. If I could get
four, or even two (but by preference all four) done shortly after I leave
this office — on the supposition that I shall be left here until the end of
President McKinley's term — I should very much like it.
With great regard, Faithfully yours
705
843 • TO IRA NELSON HOLLIS Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, November 3, 1897
My dear Professor Hollis: The Secretary has nominated the following
board:1
Assistant Secretary, president.
Captain Sampson.
Captain Evans.
Captain Crowninshield.
Lt. Com. Wainwright.
Lieut, (jr. gr.) A. L. Key.
Chief Engineer Melville.
Chief Engineer Rae.
P. A. Engineer McFarland.
It will meet Saturday, and then from time to time until we get some
bill in shape. Personally I want that bill to be as nearly as possible on the
line of yours. I put Melville on instead of Karney, whom you recom-
mended, but if Melville doesn't serve I will put Karney in his place. (P.S. I
have put him on anyhow). They both represent the same ideas. I am sorry
to say that these ideas are fundamentally different from yours as set forth
in the bill, and in the proposals at the end of your Atlantic Monthly article.
At bottom they don't wish any change in the present system, except that
they want to be given a title. As you know, this title business seems to me
a little foolish. If "Engineer" is not regarded as an honorable title I should
be only too glad to substitute any other for it, but the title substituted ought
not to be the same as that of a man who does different work. I wish my-
self that even the Army and Navy titles were different, as they are in the
higher ranks, and were in the lower until we unfortunately dropped the
term "Midshipman."
Can you come on here to consult with the board, and advise us gen-
erally? If so I earnestly hope you will. What time would be most convenient
for you?
By George, Harvard ought to beat Yale football this year! Faithfully
yours
844 • TO JOHN HAY Roosevelt Mss.°
Washington, November 4, 1897
Dear Mr. Ambassador, Well, we've met the enemy with disastrous results in
New York; but elsewhere I think the outcome has been fairly satisfactory.
1This board was appointed to investigate various personnel problems, such as pro-
motion and the relationship between line and staff, in the Navy.
706
We've elected Hanna and beaten Gorman; and these were the two main
objects from the national standpoint. We had to expect a certain reaction. In
New York the astounding defeat was simply a revolt against the intolerable
tyranny, (as vicious as Tammany's, and more stupid) of Platt. For two years
there the Republican Machine has cut antics worthy of Hill and Croker at
their best; and as for the Citizens Union, you know the kind of cattle the
reformers of that brand are. I was on the stump for Hanna. I kept out of the
New York fight; conduct of which the President much approved.
I quite agree with what you say of attacks on England. I sent your letter
to Cabot. I am a bit of a jingo — I wish we would turn Spain out of Cuba
before Congress meets — but I have a horror of bluster which does not
result in fight; it is both weak and undignified.
By the way, while in Cleveland I spent a charming afternoon at the
Mathers,1 who were most kind. Do tell Mrs. Hay; and give her my warm
regards. My family are all here now. Always yours
In the December Scribners Kipling has a fine, strong poem, dedicated to
the memory of good Willie Phillips; I was touched by his thought of the
dear fellow, whom we all miss so continually.
Is'n't "Captains Courageous" good?
845 • TO FRENCH ENSOR CHADWICK RoOSevelt MsS.
Washington, November 4, 1897
My dear Captain Chadwick: Your letter was very welcome. I earnestly trust
that Mrs. Chadwick's health will soon be restored. I only wish I yet knew
whether the Secretary would, or would not favor the three battleships. I have
made them my "delenda est Cartago" in speaking to him until I feel he
fairly loathes to hear me utter the word.
I was very much interested in your account of the draft in Spain. I
haven't the slightest doubt that it is just as you say, namely, that the Jew
moneylenders in Paris, plus one or two big commercial companies in Spain
are trying to keep up the war. I more than agree with you as to the iniquity
of our country allowing these people a hold on Cuban finances, but I don't
believe that my words will be listened to. We ought to go to war with Spain,
unless she gets out peaceably, within the next month.
Apparently we have saved Hanna. I hope we have beaten Gorman. The
result in New York was precisely what we had every reason to expect.
With great regard, Faithfully yours
1 Samuel Mather, iron merchant, financier, and philanthropist, was married to Mrs.
Hay's sister.
707
846 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE RoOSCVelt
Washington, November 4, 1897
Dear Cabot: If, as seems certain, Hanna is elected, and if, as seems probable,
Gorman is defeated, it seems to me that we have won what it was most
essential from the national standpoint to win this fall. That there should be
some reaction was to be expected. Ohio and Maryland on the popular vote
went as they did last fall, although of course by greatly reduced pluralities;
but in proportion not much more reduced than in New Jersey and Massachu-
setts. In New York the conditions were singular. We should have seen a
reduced majority anyhow; but the majority would have been still very large
in our favor, say over 100,000 without doubt, if it had not been for the
criminal folly with which Platt and the machine have been behaving for the
last two years, and I am almost tempted to say for the last three years. The
first year of victory stunned them so that they permitted the mass of decent
republican voters to have their say in a good many things. We got a first-
class constitutional convention, a good man for Governor, and another good
man for Mayor; and in the first and second Legislatures there were many
representatives of decency; but after the first shock was over Platt followed
his invariable principle of seeing that republican success meant the success
only of men who were venal or weak enough to be his tools, and every pos-
sible step was taken to alienate the decent elements. New York will be all
right again in 1898, even if Platt keeps in power, provided we have to fight
Bryanism (although the hatred of the Platt machine inspired among decent
people is so intense that the State will offer some pretty hard fighting under
any conditions if it retains power). If Bryanism is thrown over by the
democracy, New York will be more than doubtful, but in that case we should
get the West; so that from the national standpoint I see nothing discouraging
in what has happened. From the standpoint of civic decency there is of
course very much to be regretted. The figures make it clear that no possible
alliance in which Platt was allowed any particular hand could have won. If
a compromise ticket in any way agreeable to Platt had been put up it would
have been beaten overwhelmingly, for Platt's machine people would have
probably been disloyal to it, as they were in '95, while tens of thousands of
gold democrats and independents, and even of republicans, would not have
touched anything with which Platt was connected; for, as always happens
in a fight like this, the hostility aroused finally passed the bounds of common
sense. Platt could have saved his State ticket and gained twenty Assemblymen
in Greater New York by heartily, and without reservation, and without
exacting stipulations of any kind, approving the Citizens' Union ticket. It
was of course impossible to expect him to do this; but if he had done it he
would have undoubtedly received full recognition from Low in the improb-
able event of Low's being elected; and, as I said, he would without doubt
have carried the republican judge on the State ticket, and have gained from
708
fifteen to twenty Assemblymen. Half of the republicans in Greater New
York voted for Low, and the Tracy republican vote came from democratic
districts. The native American republicans were almost exclusively for Low.
Tracy did not carry a single assembly district. Low carried 13. In my own
district Low polled three times as many votes as Tracy, who did not poll in
the district much more than half as many as Van Wyck; yet, by absolute
shameless fraud, this is one of the districts where the organization does not
allow a single delegate to the anti-machine people. I don't see much hope in
the situation in New York. The Citizens' Union people are very foolish, and
the unspeakable scoundrelism as well as folly of the machine has alienated
decent republicans more deeply than you could imagine. As soon as I got
back from my visit to Nahant I found that the tide among all decent repub-
licans was setting very strongly in favor of Low against Tracy; and one of
the most potent causes was the attitude of the Sun, which has been not
merely mischievous, but, what is unusual with the Sim, wholly ineffective
with regard to gaining its ends. Platt will doubtless keep the machine in his
control, and unless he chooses to exercise some self-restraint we shall run
serious risks of being beaten outright in New York until we again come to a
national campaign where the national issues swamp the local. As it has turned
out, the Citizens' Union were quite right in nominating Assemblymen; and
in the three best republican districts in New York they carried their men
through; while had they been out of the field the republican machine men
would have unquestionably been beaten by the Tammany men, who were
not one whit worse. The two republicans elected were candidates who had
been endorsed by the Citizens' Union.
There! All this you either will not care for or will know as well as I do;
but I have to blow off steam. My two speehes in Ohio were very successful.
Give my best love to Nannie. Yours ever
847 -TO JOSEPH BENSON FORAKER Foraker Mss.
Washington, November 5, 1897
My dear Senator Foraker: x Mr. Proctor2 just showed me your letter to him
about Hawaii; and I can't deny myself the pleasure of writing to you to say
how glad I am you wrote him. It was a very kind and generous thing to do;
and I don't think I have ever seen a man more pleased than Proctor was. It
seemed to me his article was one of the best there has been on the subject. In
fact he is a jingo! and it is rather a relief to see a man who can't be touched
by the timid people of wealth, or the unscrupulous ones either. I am very
anxious to see you and have a chat over foreign affairs. Faithfully yours
1 Joseph Benson Foraker of Ohio was then serving his first term in the Senate.
8 Redfield Proctor.
709
848 • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE Printed1
Washington, November 5, 1897
Dear Cabot, As a personal addition to my political wail of yesterday, I may
mention that Edith and I have been selfishly exultant, in the midst of our
political depression, that you got us here, so that I am part of the Administra-
tion, with the prospect of honorable work, instead of being part of the wreck
in New York.
Now, in strict confidence, we have won as regards the principle of exten-
sion of the Navy with the Secretary; he will recommend one additional
battleship, and additional torpedo boats. It is too little, but it is a recognition
of the principle that we are not to stop.
He carefully explained to me that he had always intended this! and that
I must be careful not to give the impression that he was converted. So I'll
be careful about this. Aside from this little warning, and the brush over the
canteen, he has been as kind and friendly as ever.
Love to Nannie. Yours always
849 • TO CURTIS GUILD, JR. Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, November 5, 1897
Dear Curtis: Your letter amused me greatly, and it takes a good deal to amuse
me nowadays. Oh, what fools the reformers are everywhere, and what fools
and knaves combined the machine men are in New York!
I wish I did slander Garland; but unfortunately I don't. The good
Brander Matthews is a trump, and I am very fond of him; but he gets away
off on all kinds of matters. He is one of the men who mixes with "our best
circles," where they look down on patriotism, and the plain everyday duties
of decent American citizens; and in trying to justify himself for his own
rightmindedness he now and then appeals to the false gods of the men by
whom he is surrounded.
Now about the navy yard. No man can get on out of his turn. Not one
man has been put on out of his place, or because of any political pull since I
have been in office. If any one of your informants thinks this, let him through
you, and without giving his own name, furnish me the name of any man
whom he thinks has been discriminated for or against, and I will not only
have the matter looked up, but I will get you to go over and verify the facts
yourself. Isn't this about square?
I wish I could have had a little glimpse of you as well as of your brother,
but I shall hope to see you in Washington anyhow. Faithfully yours
1 Lodge, I, 294.
710
850 • TO HENRY WHITE Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, November 8, 1897
My dear White: We are settled in our home here very comfortably. It is on
N Street, just opposite the British Legation, and among the two or three
photographs in our drawing room is that exceedingly pretty one of Mrs.
White and Miss Muriel.
Yesterday I took the children for a tramp up Rock Creek, and we were
saying how we wished you and yours were along.
Well, the result in New York has been an overwhelming disaster, partly
because the reform or Citizens' Union element behaved with much perver-
sity, but infinitely more because the Platt machine people were equally stu-
pid, and a great deal more immoral. It is a great disaster to the city; and from
a national standpoint, though less serious, it is a disaster also. Aside from this
the elections were unusually favorable to the administration for an off year.
The election of Hanna, which now seems assured, although by an unpleas-
antly narrow majority, was very important, and the defeat of Gorman, with
the consequent gain of a republican sound money senator from Maryland,
was perhaps even more desirable from the national standpoint.
I have very greatly enjoyed this work and continue on as good a footing
as ever with my chief. He is not quite as radical as I am in favor of the Navy,
but he will definitely take the position that we should go on with its up-
building, even in battleships and torpedo boats, but especially as regards the
dry docks and the number of men needed to man the ships we have, and the
projectiles and powder, of which we also stand most urgently in need.
How very well John Hay is handling himself; Heavens, what an agree-
able contrast it is to the conduct of his predecessor! He seems to have struck
precisely the right middle between effusiveness and self-assertion. In other
words he has behaved as was to be expected; and as a gentleman and an
American representative should behave.
Lodge is well, of which I am very glad, as last spring I was really alarmed
by the way his work told on him. I know of no man who does so much
work. Have you seen his little volume of Essays? They are really worth
reading. Nothing but my friendship for you prevents my sending you a vol-
ume by myself, recently published.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. White, and remember me to Miss Muriel
as well as to Jack. I wish there were some chance of seeing you all; and the
fact that you and the Hays are over in London really makes me wish that
I could go over there. I don't think I shall be able to put the wish into exe-
cution, however. Faithfully yours
711
8 5 I • TO HENRY CABOT LODGE RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, November 8, 1897
Dear Cabot: I was awfully glad to get your letter. I enclose you a letter from
an extremely good fellow in New York — one of the only two aldermen
we elected. He is a regular republican, and was elected over the Citizens'
Union as well as over the Tammany candidates. It was one of the cases where
I, and other decent men, felt the Citizens' Union had no business not to en-
dorse, and we helped him all we could. He had advocated the nomination
of Low by the republicans, but stood by the organization when the split
came. I send you his letter just so that you may see how the decent men in
the organization feel over the matter.
Did I tell you that Joe Murray finally came out for Low, as indeed did
every other machine man in my district with whom I have ever acted in the
past. It is a horrid muddle and I am very glad you kept out of it. Of course
our hindsight is better than our foresight; but as things have turned out it is
a real misfortune that Bliss should have got mixed up in it, and very lucky
that I should have so ostentatiously kept aloof . Of course, as always happens,
the wrath that was visited on Platt, and therefore on the Republican Party,
represented the stored up revolt against innumerable injuries and insults, and
not merely anger at the misdeeds of this year. The Presidential election
drowned everything last year; but in 1897 the men felt that there was really
no one overmastering issue, and the vengeful memories of a hundred insolent
injuries were uppermost. One feature which I very sincerely lament is that
the anger at the machine, which the machine has so richly deserved, is so
great that there will be, even among rational and practical men, a strong
tendency to pardon even the worst vagaries of the so-called independents;
and this in turn means trouble of another kind in the future. I am very anx-
ious to see you and to talk over the thing at length. Outside of New York,
as you say, I regard the result as on the whole encouraging, and if Van Wyck
puts into office the same old gang, it will in its turn produce a reaction which
cannot but help us. But oh, how I wish I thought Platt would be willing to
learn even a little. It is worse than useless to try to regain power by driving
out of the party, or keeping out of the party, that half of the party, including
the great bulk of its intelligence and morality, which is against Platt, and
which in New York supported Low. Ever yours
[Handwritten] P.S. Your volume of essays drew blood and tears from the
Evening Post to the extent of a column and a half.
852 • TO WALTER HIKES PAGE RoOSCVelt
Washington, November 10, 1897
My dear Mr. Page: x I was very much put out to find you gone, but when
the Secretary sends for me I have no alternative but to go; and just at present
1 Walter Hines Page, then editor of the Atlantic Monthly.
7I2
I am as busy as anyone well can be. I am very pleased that you should have
seen & liked my little book of Essays; and by the way, if I get time I should
like to write for the Atlantic Monthly a historical article on the Mongol
Terror, the domination of the Tartar tribes over half of Europe during the
Thirteenth and Fourteenth centuries. It is curious how little people know
about it. Faithfully yours
853 -TO FREDERIC REMINGTON RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, November 1 1, 1897
My dear Remington: No, that was not too much. Marshall's History is a
rare book.1 It was first published in 1812, but the second edition is much
fuller. Marshall is the only one of those old State historians who writes at
all interestingly. You will, however, find many accounts of the early Indian
fighting in Haywood's History of Tennessee, published about the same
time.2 If you haven't got it, or can't get it, next summer, I will send you on
my copy — which is an instance of my trusting nature.
If you happen to come across my volumes called The Winning of the
West, you will find a good many descriptions of the early Indian fighting.
Sometimes I have used Marshall as my authority; at other times I have used
manuscript diaries and letters of the old fighters themselves. It would not be
worth your while to get The Winning of the West, but if you will order it
from the circulating library you might be interested in looking at some of
the fights.
I don't think I ever thanked you half enough for your book. I look over
it again and again, and enjoy every single picture. Dr. Wood8 was in last
night, and in the badger fight was pointing me out himself. By the way, the
only criticism in all the pictures which I could make even in the most hyper-
critical spirit, would be that the badger's legs are too long and thin. There
were some naval men in too, including Bob Evans and Sampson, the Captain
of the Iowa, and we were all wishing that you would do something about
the Navy some time. We don't want you to forsake your old love, but just
devote a wee bit of attention to another also. Faithfully yours
854 • TO CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, November 15, 1897
My dear President Eliot: I will tell Secretary Long about the Cambridge post
office matter at once.
Very good; I will speak on the second Wednesday in April, the i3th, and
1 Humphrey Marshall, The History of Kentucky (Frankfort, Kentucky, 1812; re-
vised edition, Frankfort, Kentucky, 1824).
•John Haywood, The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee (Nashville,
Tennessee, 1823) and The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee
(Knoxville, Tennessee, 1823).
•Leonard Wood.
that will enable me to be at the meeting of the Board of Overseers also. It
is extremely difficult for me to get away from here, so I am not able to be at
the Overseers' meetings as often as I should like.
As for the subject, I thought you suggested the Police Force. I should
treat it, so to speak, as an object lesson in applied civics, and I would either
call it by this name, or else simply "Handling the Police Force of a Big City."
Mr. Hollis has been of great assistance to me, and I think he has found me
receptive to his ideas. Sincerely yours
855 • TO PHILEMON TECUMSEH SHERMAN RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, November 15, 1897
My dear Mr. Sherman: l After writing to you I met Weeks and learned the
result. I congratulate you both with all my heart.
Now a word as to what you say in reference to the action of the Ad-
ministration. I am sure that when you think over the matter you will realize
that you have not been just. The President is the official head of the repub-
lican party. He is elected as such because it is supposed that he is the best
man in the party to guide and lead it, and to co-operate with its other rep-
resentatives in forwarding the great measures to which it is committed. For
him to do his work it is necessary that he shall be able to act in unison with
Congress, and especially with the Senate. Of course it may be necessary for
the President to quarrel with the Senate or with a Senator; but the damage
done by such a quarrel is invariably deep and lasting, and it is not to be
entered into until the necessity is clearly established, until it is evident that
it cannot honorably be avoided. Such a quarrel last spring would have meant
the failure of the effort to get through the tariff, and therefore the contin-
uance of business unrest and the attendant bad times. Such a quarrel now
would mean endless trouble on such questions as the currency and the civil
service, and might mean serious national disaster. It was just such a quarrel
with his own party that made President Cleveland lose his pet measure, the
arbitration treaty, and which rendered him powerless to control the action of
the Senate on either the tariff or the currency.
Of course circumstances may arise under which it is the duty of the
President to quarrel with the Senate, even at the cost of inviting party disas-
ter; but equally of course, at the present moment not merely national pros-
perity but national honor depends upon the success of the republican party,
and the President would indeed be held to a heavy accounting if he lightly
risked a break-up of the republican party, under such circumstances, unless
the need was imperative.
He could not be expected to attack the regular republican organization in
our local contest in New York. A former Cabinet officer was running,
'Philemon Tecumseh Sherman, New York lawyer, independent Republican, New
York alderman, 1898-1900.
714
backed by the only republican Senator from New York; and against him was
the man to whom the President had himself offered the ministership to Spain.
He ought not to have taken part in such a contest, and he did not take part
in it. He told me explicitly that he had no criticism to make of my being for
Low; and I happen to know that Secretary Bliss acted on his own responsi-
bility, and that the President did not see his letter until it was in print.
Don't you forget also how many appointments from New York the
President has given to the extreme antimachine people? Think of Horace
Porter and Andrew D. White as two of the four ambassadors. Think of
Wilson as postmaster of Brooklyn — a man who, as Congressman, has always
been absolutely independent, who has fought the machine men bitterly, and
who is in every way a most admirable appointment. Think of the District
Attorney of Buffalo, of the special envoy to the Court of St. James; of others
too numerous to mention. Of course he has to appoint some men from the
other side; he ought to. The grade of his appointees averages high indeed, as
you will see if you run them over. It seems to me that the Evening Post, and
papers of that kind, have shown a scandalous lack of fairness in their failure
to acknowledge all that the President has done for the independent element.
Permit me to use myself as an example. Surely there was no appointment that
could have been more distasteful to the machine leaders whom you and I
have opposed than my own, yet the President made it; and in handling the
patronage of the Brooklyn Navy Yard all that he and my chief, Secretary
Long, have asked was that it be managed strictly under the civil service law,
and no favoritism shown to anyone. For the first time in the history of the
yard, under any President's administration, the machine leaders of the dom-
inant party have had nothing to say about this patronage.
The President stands, not merely as the leader of the republican party,
but as the leader of the forces which make for national good government.
He would be untrue to the men who make up that party, and who are the
exponents of those forces, throughout the land, if he permitted himself to be
drawn into local fights.
He took no part in the Chicago campaign last spring, and no part in our
campaign this fall. In most of our local matters I feel in very strong sympathy
with you and the men who think as you do; but in return I feel that in the
name of national honor and national prosperity we have a right to ask that
when a national conflict comes up, the fight for local good government shall
not be allowed to jeopardize the larger interest.
The President has stood firm as a rock on the two great issues of honest
money and an honest civil service, and this against very heavy pressure. He
is the first President who ever, at the beginning of his administration, has
taken a step so pronounced in favor of the civil service law as to challenge the
bitter hostility of the spoilsmen. I need not refer to his splendid settlement
of the Union Pacific matter. By concluding the treaty of annexation with
Hawaii he undid, so far as it could be undone, the worst mischief of Qeve-
land's administration, and remedied a blunder which, if let stand, would have
told against this nation for centuries to come.
As for the Spanish business, see how admirably he has treated that. I am
myself what the Evening Post would call a Jingo, and yet I am forced to
admit that the President has handled this Spanish question so as to avoid the
necessity of war, and yet to uphold the honor of our country and to procure
for the insurgent Cubans infinitely more than Cleveland was able to procure.
In short, in every case where the President has had to act, he has acted with
equal wisdom and vigor. I think the country sees this, for remember that
outside of New York the elections this year went more favorably to the ad-
ministration than has been the case for a quarter of a century past, in the
first year succeeding the advent of an administration.
Considering all these facts; considering the way the President has stood
for all the great policies telling for national honor and material well-being;
considering the marked way in which he has recognized the elements that
stood against the machine in New York; and considering the very great
disaster that would be caused by a disruption of the party on national matters
(and such disruption would follow any war on the President), it seems to me
that you and afl of my friends who belong, as I do, to the independent or
antimachine wing of the republican party, will feel that they have no right
to desert or oppose the President merely because he has done what he ought
to have done in recognizing the official heads of the republican organization
in New York in certain of the appointments in that State; especially as, the
Evening Post to the contrary notwithstanding, the duty is imposed on him
by the Constitution of consulting and advising with the Senate when he
makes these appointments.
I wish some of you could come here to Washington; and if that is im-
possible I wish I could meet some of you at dinner in New York on one of
my visits. Although I would not like this letter made public, I should really
be glad to have you show it to any of our various friends — Mayor Strong
or Mr. Laimbeer,2 or Gen. McCook, or Mr. Low. Faithfully yours
856 • TO WILLIAM WIRT KIMBALL RoOSevelt
Washington, November 19, 1897
My dear Mr. Kimball: When will you be at Savannah or at Brunswick,
Georgia? I am afraid I am not going to be able to make it, but if I can I
shall. If I fail, then I shall join you at one of the gulf ports later. I don't think
it will be possible for me to get to Charleston.
I will sound Captain Crowninshield to find out what the intentions are
as to that submarine boat, but I don't want to interfere unless I see a fair
opening.
Now, about the Spanish war. In the first place it is always a pleasure to
* Francis E. Laimbeer, New York City lawyer, "Good Government" Republican.
716
hear from you. In the next place to speak with a frankness which our timid
friends would call brutal, I would regard a war with Spain from two stand-
points: first, the advisability on the grounds both of humanity and self-
interest of interfering on behalf of the Cubans, and of taking one more step
toward the complete freeing of America from European dominion; second,
the benefit done our people by giving them something to think of which isn't
material gain, and especially the benefit done our military forces by trying
both the Navy and Army in actual practice. I should be very sorry not to
see us make the experiment of trying to land, and therefore feed and clothe,
an expeditionary force, if only for the sake of learning from our own blun-
ders. I should hope that the force would have some fighting to do. It would
be a great lesson, and we would profit much by it. I expressed myself a little
clumsily about the transport question. Of course if we drift into the war
butt end foremost, and go at it in higgledy-piggledy fashion we shall meet
with occasional difficulties. I am not the boss of this Government; (and I
want to say that I do think President McKinley, who is naturally desirous
of keeping the peace, has combined firmness and temperateness very happily
in his treatment of Spain); from my own standpoint, however, and speaking
purely privately, I believe that war will have to, or at least ought to, come
sooner or later; and I think we should prepare for it well in advance. I should
have the Asiatic squadron in shape to move on Manila at once. I would have
our squadron in European waters consist merely of the Brooklyn, New York,
Columbia and Minneapolis; and of course I should have this, as well as the
Asiatic squadron, under the men whom I thought ought to take it into action.
All the other ships in the Atlantic I would gather around Key West before
the war broke out. I should expect it would take at least a fortnight before
the Army could get at Tampa or Pensacola the thirty or forty thousand men
who should land at Matanzas. During that fortnight I should expect that our
Navy would have put a stop to the importation of food to Cuba and would
have picked up most of the Spanish vessels round about. At the end of that
time I believe it would be safe to gather an ample number of vessels for the
transport of the army. This ought not to take them more than a week or ten
days from their legitimate duties. Meanwhile I believe that plenty of arms
and a considerable number of men would go over to Cuba on private ven-
tures, and that the Cuban insurrection would be infinitely more formidable
than it is now. With thirty or forty thousand men at Matanzas, re-enforced
from time to time, I believe that the Navy could for the most part resume
its duties, and that, while it would be the main factor in producing the down-
fall of the Spaniards, the result would be much hastened by the Army.
I didn't think the Cosmopolitan article -worth paying much heed to. A
writer who knows so little of naval affairs as to think that the Columbia
would be unable to get her men to quarters or fire a gun before she was sunk
by Spanish cruisers which she had previously descried, is hardly to be taken
seriously.
717
Let me hear from you at any time. It is always a pleasure. Very sincerely
yours
857 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES Roosevelt MSS.Q
Washington, November 19, 1897
Darling Bye, Very unexpectedly Quentin Roosevelt appeared just two hours
ago. Edith is is doing well. By the aid of my bicycle I just got the Doctor &
Nurse in time! We are very glad, and much relieved. Yours
858 • TO CASPAR FREDERICK GOODRICH
Washington, November 19, 1897
My dear Captain Goodrich: I like your address very much, and I will take
it in to the Secretary at once. You may have noticed that I have followed
out something the same idea in my speech before the Naval Constructors at
New York.
I shall get you and Taylor on to see me as soon as possible. I shall not let
the question of a general staff come into this bill at all.
Yesterday I learned, a good deal to my astonishment, that, by permission,
Captain Dickins' letter about the War College was to be made public; so I
promptly had your reply made public also, I felt that we could afford to let
it go at that!
Indeed your son has done well. I have a new small boy just two hours
old, whom I have entered for Groton. Faithfully yours
859 • TO EDWIN LAWRENCE GODKIN RoOSCVelt
Washington, November 23, 1897
My dear Sir: In last Saturday's issue of your paper there was a review of
Hough's Story of the Cowboy1 so good that I should like this letter to be
sent to the writer.
I was as much pleased with Hough's book as the writer of this review,
and I am rather amused to see the incidental mention of Mr. Lewis's Wolf-
ville* I was asked to review Wolfville by Lewis himself, who has been very
pleasant to me, and whose stories I had originally tried to get in some of the
magazines. But I would not review the book for I would have had to write
that, though there was so much stuff well outlined in it and so much genuine
appreciation of one peculiar side of the roughest cowboy life, yet that this
side was given a preposterous importance so as to make the whole picture
false.
1 Emerson Hough, The Story of the Cowboy (New York, 1897).
* Wolfville (New York, 1897), one of a series of genial, colorful books dealing with
the West written by Alfred Henry Lewis, onetime head of W. R. Hearst's Wash-
ington Bureau.
I hope the writer likes some of Owen Wister's sketches as much as I do.
"The^Pilgrim on the Gila," for instance, and "The Second Missouri Com-
promise," give certain phases of western life as they have never before been
given.
The reviewer's criticisms of Mr. Hough's Spanish give me a pang for
the simple reason that I think I have committed every fault that Hough did,
including the spelling of "bronk" as if it were in some way connected with
lung complaint.
By the way, I wonder if the reviewer can tell me from what Spanish word
we get the curious term "Horsewrangler"? At least I suppose it is Spanish,
for I should not think such a term could have been invented. Yours truly
860 • TO NORMAN WINSLOW CABOT RoOSevelt
Washington, November 23, 1897
My dear Captain Cabot: * I would like to write to you, and through you to
the members of your team, to say that my opinion is that the Harvard team
did very well this year. Of course our hindsight is better than our foresight,
and I suppose we all feel that with slight changes here and there we could
have won against Yale. As for Pennsylvania, I don't think it was on the cards
for us to beat her. At any rate, I feel that the team made an entirely creditable
showing, and if the men don't get discouraged, and go in just a$ heartily next
year with perhaps a trifle more attention to aggressiveness in attack, we will
have good reason to expect a triumphant season. I want to see Harvard play
hard, snappy football in attack. Nobody could condemn mean or vicious
playing more than I do; I would rather see the game stopped than have it
indulged in; but I do want to see the attack made with all the energy and
aggressiveness possible. Fight with "devil," as they say in the boxing ring.
The only think I did not like about this year was taking off the H after
the Yale game. Our men had done well; not quite as well as we had hoped,
but still well; and I think it as great a mistake to show undue sensitiveness in
defeat, or after failure to achieve victory, as it is to be indifferent about it.
It is very bad to be overconfident or overelated, and it is very bad to be too
much cast down. It is exactly as in the great world. One never cares for the
nations who, after a defeat, want to sacrifice somebody, to atone for their
own mortification and wounded vanity. The French and the Greeks try to
depose any government under which they have lost; but our people stood by
Lincoln, just as they stood by Washington, through years of defeat, until
we came out on top. They never lost their resolution to win, and they never
were daunted by temporary disaster.
If you get time I wish you would drop me a line as to who of the team
will be back next year. I am very sorry that you are going out, but I am glad
of the election of Captain Dibblee. Tell him how pleased many of us are to
1 Norman Winslow Cabot, captain of the Harvard football team.
719
see a Californian again prominent in our athletics. When I was at Harvard
our crew beat Yale three out of four times, and the best man our class con-
tributed to the crew was a Californian.
Pray give my regards to all the members of the eleven. Yours truly
86 1 'TO ARENT SCHUYLER CROWNINSHIELD Roosevelt
Washington, November 24, 1897
My dear Captain Crouminshield: Can I get from Admiral Sicard a report
upon the ramming drill, as practiced on the Puritan, especially with reference
to the advisability of its incorporation in other ships? I am especially inter-
ested in the disappearing exercises for the men. It is claimed that this will be
valuable in keeping the crew stowed away, somewhat out of the reach of
damage, when exposed to a fire they are not yet able to return. I know
nothing about either drill, but I wish to learn.
I should also like to have a report from Admiral Sicard as to the relative
efficiency in gun firing of the vessels, and of its turrets, in the squadron this
fall. I should like to get some of the results from the big guns and some from
the best practice of the rapid-fire guns. It would seem to be well if we could
give prizes for the men who have done best with their guns. This is done
now, is it not? Why would it not be well to have prize firing, as in the
British Navy, with, instead of the ordinary target, a canvas screen which
would make a tolerably good representation of a ship's hull? Sincerely yours
862 • TO MONTGOMERY SICARD Roosevelt
Washington, November 29, 1897
My dear Admral Sicard: As you know I have very much at heart everything
connected with the North Atlantic Squadron. I have been greatly pleased
with what has been done this year; and, if it is possible, I should like to see
even more done next year, when, perhaps, the torpedo-boat flotilla can be
used as an adjunct to the squadron's work, and when we may have more
light cruisers disposable, in addition to the battleships and armored cruisers.
In connection with the scheme of work for the squadron I have talked over
with the War College people two or three points which might possibly be de-
veloped into something useful; and I write to know if you would not care
to have your chief of staff — Commander West — sometime when he has a
little leisure see Captain Goodrich and discuss matters with him.
Mrs. Cowles writes me that she had the pleasure of seeing you the other
day. I only hope that next year again I shall have the good fortune to be
able to look on at some of your work, no matter for how brief a time. I felt
I learned a good deal during my short stay; and I think I got one tangible
good out of it in the shape of restoring die electrically worked turrets to
two of the three new battleships.
With great regard, Very sincerely yours
720
863 'TO FREDERIC COURTENEY SELOUS Roosevelt
Washington, November 30, 1897
Dear Mr. Selous: Your letter made me quite melancholy — first, to think I
wasn't to see you after all; and, next, to realize so vividly how almost the
last real hunting grounds in America have gone. Thirteen years ago I had
splendid sport on the Big Horn Mountains which you crossed. Six years ago
I saw elk in bands of one and two hundred on Buffalo Fork; and met but one
hunting expedition while I was out. A very few more years will do away
with all the really wild hunting, at least so far as bear and elk are concerned,
in the Rocky Mountains and the West generally; one of the last places will
be on the Olympic peninsula of Oregon, where there is a very peculiar elk,
a different species, quite as big in body, but with smaller horns which are
more like those of the European red deer, and with a black head. Goat, sheep
and bear will for a long time abound in British Columbia and Alaska.
Well, I am glad you enjoyed yourself anyhow, and that you did get a
sufficient number of fair heads — wapiti, prongbuck, blacktail and whitetail.
Of course I am very sorry that you didn't get a good sheep and a bear or
two. In the northeastern part of the Park there is some wintering ground
for the elk; and I doubt if they will ever be entirely killed out in the Park;
but in a very short while shooting in the West, where it exists, will simply be
the kind that can now be obtained in Maine and New York; that is, the game
will be scarce, and the game laws fairly observed in consequence of the exist-
ence of a class of professional guides; and a hunter who gets one good head
for a trip will feel he has done pretty well. You were in luck to get so fine
a prongbuck head.
Do tell Mrs. Selous how sorry I am to miss her, as well as you. I feel
rather melancholy to think that my own four small boys will practically see
no hunting on this side at all, and indeed no hunting anywhere unless they
have the adventurous temper that will make them start out into wild regions
to find their fortunes. I was just in time to see the last of the real wilderness
life and real wilderness hunting. How I wish I could have been with you this
year! but, as I wrote you before, during the last three seasons I have been
able to get out West but once, and then only for a fortnight on my ranch,
where I shot a few antelope for meat.
You ought to have Hough's Story of the Cowboy and VanDyke's Still
Hunter. Also, I think you might possibly enjoy small portions of the three
volumes of the Boone and Crockett Club's publications. They could be ob-
tained from the Forest and Stream people at 346 Broadway, New York, by
writing. Have you ever seen Washington Irving's Trip on the frame and
Lewis and Clark's Expedition? And there are two very good volumes about
.... now out of print, by a lieutenant in the British Army named Ruxton,
the tides of which for the moment I can't think of, but I will look them up
and send them to you. He describes the game less than the trappers and
hunters of the period; men who must have been somewhat like your ele-
721
phant hunters. When I was first on the plains there were a few of them left;
and the best hunting trip I ever made was in the company of one of them,
though he was not a particularly pleasant old fellow to work with.
Now, to answer your question about ranching; and of course you are at
liberty to quote me.
I know a good deal of ranching in western North Dakota, eastern Mon-
tana, and northeastern Wyoming. My ranch is in the Bad Lands of the Little
Missouri, a good cattle country, with shelter, traversed by a river, into which
run here and there perennial streams. It is a dry country, but not in any
sense a desert. Year in and year out we found that it took about 25 acres to
support a steer or cow. When less than that was allowed the ranch became
overstocked, and loss was certain to follow. Of course where hay is put up,
and cultivation with irrigation attempted, the amount of land can be reduced;
but any country in that -part of the West which could support a steer or
cow on 5 acres would be country which it would pay to attempt to cultivate,
and it would, therefore, cease to be merely pastoral country.
Is this about what you wish? I have made but a short trip to Texas. There
are parts of it near the coast which are well watered, and support a large
number of cattle. Elsewhere I do not believe that it supports more cattle to
the square mile than the northwestern country, and where there are more
they get terribly thinned out by occasional droughts. In Hough's book you
will see some description of this very ranching in Texas and elsewhere.
Do give my warm regards to Buxton when you meet him. I am very
sorry that it has been so long since I have seen him; and I really grudge the
fact that you and Mrs. Selous got away from this side without my even
getting a glimpse of you. Faithfully yours
864 • TO JAMES BRYCE Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, November 30, 1897
My dear Mr. Bryce: I thank you very warmly for your South African book,
which has just come. I am up to my ears in work at present. Of course I was
greatly disappointed in the result of the New York election; but, as I told
you, my optimism about New York is based upon a profound pessimism as
to immediate results. Some day I shall write you at length exactly what I
mean. In brief, I don't think we are going to get what you and I would con-
sider good government in New York for a long time to come. The mass of
foreigners will take at least a couple of generations before they can be edu-
cated to the proper point. If Tammany grows very bad we shall throw it out
again; and this will have to be done by a coalition which, when established
in power, will be rent by bitter feuds, and Tammany will once more return.
Like all similar coalitions it can be held together much better for attack than
for defense.
722
Pray present my warm regards to Mrs. Bryce. It was delightful to get a
glimpse of both of you. Lodge told me how much he enjoyed having you
at lunch. Faithftdly yours
[Handwritten] There is nothing I more wished than this very book you
have sent me.
865 -TO AUGUSTUS PEABODY GARDNER RoOSCVelt
Washington, December i, 1897
Dear Gus: Many thanks for your congratulations.
Now, about the dinner: I am exceedingly sorry that I can't come, but it
is a perfect impossibility for me to get away just at present. I am chairman
of one or two difficult boards; and Congress will be right at the beginning
of the session, and I simply could not come on. I would like nothing better
than to come, and especially to listen to the talk.
I have a great friend here who was formerly in Harvard for a short while,
and is most zealous for her interests, especially in an athletic way — an Army
Surgeon named Wood, who, in company with myself and (tell it not in
Gath) your revered Senatorial father-in-law, goes into various small athletic
exercises, including the solemn kicking of football round an empty lot. I wish
you could see the Senator punting, which, by the way, he does remarkably
well, far better than I do.
If I could get on I would, for certainly there is something that can be
remedied. When our freshman teams usually beat it seems incomprehensible
that the University should be invariably beaten. I didn't at all like our men
taking off the H after the Yale game. I thought it showed a certain hysterical
spirit. Will you have any of the undergraduates at your dinner? I discussed
with Alty Morgan your paper last year about the clubs. Personally I entirely
agree with it. Faithfully yours
866 • TO MONTGOMERY siCARD Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, December 3, 1897
My dear Admiral Sicard: I was much pleased at receiving your very kind
letter. Captain Goodrich was on here and I have asked him to stop and see
Commander West on Monday and arrange matters for that talk. If possible
I would like much sometime to see you this winter, and get your ideas for
the general maneuvering of the squadron next summer, or even this winter.
It may be that I could be of some litde assistance to you in getting you the
opportunity to put into effect anything you thought advantageous.
Indeed I hope I can be with the squadron again. I am certain that a civil-
ian who has to do with the Navy in my position can do his work a great
deal better if he can see the ships actually in practice, and get the ideas of
723
the men who manage them while he is on the ground. It enables him far more
effectively to put these ideas into actual practice.
With great regard, Sincerely yours
867 • TO AUGUSTUS LOWELL Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, December 4, 1897
My dear Mr. Lowell: x Your very kind letter has just come. I need not tell
you «how» much gratified I am by what you write, for I fully appreciate the
honor of being asked to deliver a course of lectures before the Lowell Insti-
tute. I should greatly like to accept (I think I surely can); and I would
accept offhand if it were not that, living here and being very much engrossed
in work, I have to ask one or two questions first. You see I am not entirely
my own master, especially while Congress is in session, and I should have to
tell the President and the Secretary exactly what my plans were before
arranging for a long absence. The number of lectures would be six, would
it not? Can you tell me at about what intervals they would occur, so that I
may know how many, and how long, my absences from Washington would
be? Will you also tell me what the compensation is? I know you will excuse
my going into such details. If I were a man of leisure and able to do what-
ever I wished, I should like nothing better than to accept offhand; but I am
a very busy man, and this will mean not only my taking away a good deal
of time that I shall have to make up by extra work when I get back, but also
the work of preparation, for I should not be willing to do less than my best
in such a course.
If I am able to accept, (and I hope & believe I can) it seems to me that
your second suggestion — that is, treating the ranch life as the last feature
in the great epic of the western expansion of our race — would be desirable.
I could sketch briefly in outline the whole western movement; that mighty
westward thrust of our people which established the dominance of the Eng-
lish blood, tongue, and law from the seacoast of the Atlantic to the Pacific;
showing how this has really been a part of the great movement which within
three centuries has made the expansion of the English-speaking peoples infi-
nitely the greatest feature in the world's history. And then I would come
down finally to the ranch life; to show its dangers, hardships, and curious
charm, and incidentally to show that it was really repeating, in extremely
abbreviated form, for our people a stage of civilization which in other peo-
ples — among the Russians for instance — has lasted for many centuries of
their development.
With great regard, believe me, Faithfully yours
1 Augustus Lowell, sole trustee of the Lowell Institute in Boston, father of Amy,
Abbott Lawrence, and Percival Lowell.
7*4
868 • TO AUGUSTUS LOWELL Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, December 7, 1897
My dear Mr. Lowell: All right — I will with pleasure deliver those lectures.
I appreciate the compliment of being asked by the Lowell Institute too much
not to feel that I must try to make my convenience suit your custom. I shall
only ask that you hold each pair of lectures as near together in one week as
you feel justified in doing, so that I may be away as short a time as possible
from my official duties. Fortunately, my chief, Secretary Long is a Massa-
chusetts man; and being a man of high cultivation, when I showed him your
letter he readily acquiesced in my going. If possible I should like to have
the lectures take place, in at least one instance, at the time of the meeting
of the Harvard Board of Overseers, so that I could combine my duties.
I can begin to sketch out my plan of lectures if you so desire, the better
to enable me to find out exactly how I want to treat the subject, and into
about how many lectures it could naturally be divided. Then I can send it
to you for your suggestions. Very sincerely yours
869 • TO SYLVANE M. FERRIS RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, December 7, 1897
Dear Sylvane: If possible I shall be out in June next. It is difficult to under-
stand why the calf crop does not die out, and yet our steers don't seem to
live. Evidently we must try to dispose of all the cattle on the ranch next
year. I would like your advice how best to try it. Do you think that Wibaux
would make us a bid for the whole lot? I wish you would ask him, and
would find out whether there is anyone else who would bid on them. You
spoke of bidding on them yourself, but before you do so I want you to be
sure that you are not undertaking something more than you can handle.
Perhaps it would be a good thing to get Boyce to gather the whole herd and
ship and sell to Chicago or somewhere for what we could get.
Remember me to your wife and to Mrs. Joe. I hope the books came.
Sincerely yours
870 ' TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, December 9, 1897
My dear Captain Mahan: I wish you could grant Mr. HartwelPs request.
Senator Hoar is in doubt what to do about Hawaii.1 There is serious danger
1To secure senatorial approval for the Hawaiian annexation treaty the administra-
tion needed solid Republican support and considerable Democratic assistance. In this
and later letters Roosevelt enlisted Mahan's aid in an unsuccessful attempt to convert
Senator Hoar, a powerful influence in the Republican party, to the annexationist
view. The treaty never passed the Senate, but after Dewey's victory at Manila,
Hawaii was annexed by joint resolution.
7*5
of Congress not backing up the President. It seems incredible that such
shortsighted folly should obtain among our public men, but it does. If we
refuse these islands, then I honestly hope England will take them, if only to
bring back to our people the knowledge of their folly. Faithfully yours
P.S. I don't suppose that Mr. Hartwell needs to be introduced to you,
but if you require anything more than the fact that he is my personal friend,
I may mention that he is a great crony of Henry Adams and John LaFarge.
871 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Printed1
Washington, December 9, 1897
Sir: I have the honor herewith to transmit the bill prepared by the board of
which you appointed me chairman, to consider the personnel of the Navy,
so far as concerned the amalgamation of the line and engineers, the remedy
of the present stagnation in the lower ranks of the officers due to defective
flow of promotion, and the standing of the enlisted men. I shall treat the
three subjects separately; but I take very great pleasure in saying that the
board, with the exception of one member, reports unanimously in favor of
every section of the bill but one, that relating to the flow of promotion; and
as regards this flow of promotion the board is unanimous that it is necessary
to create and further it, and that for this purpose vacancies may have to be
artificially created, at least on occasions, although three of the members of
the board dissent from the views of the majority as to the method of making
these vacancies.
It is a pleasure to state my appreciation of the way the officers on the
board approached its work and their high sense of their responsibilities; and
I am glad to say that on no vote, where there was a difference of opinion,
was the line of cleavage so drawn as to leave all the engineer officers on one
side or all the line officers on the other. From the outset it was evident that
the board intended to treat the matter not merely with a full sense of its
importance, but with a resolute determination to subordinate every other
consideration, whether of individuals or of classes, to the interests of the
Navy and the nation. It is because of this attitude on their part that I am
able, without qualification, to report to you that the bill they have produced
would, if enacted into kw, be of literally incalculable good to the Navy, and
would make our naval service the pioneer in the proper solution of problems,
some of which are old, but some of which are so new that they have not yet
been solved by any naval nation.
The board recommends (a) that the line officers and engineers be amal-
gamated; (&) that when the number of officers to be promoted is so far in
excess of the vacancies as to cause stagnation in the service, the requisite
1 Senate Document, 55 Cong., 2 sess., no. 97 (January 26, 1898). A copy of this letter
without postscript in the National Archives is substantively the same as the one
here printed.
726
number of vacancies shall be caused by weeding out the men who are least
fit to meet the heavy requirements of modern naval duty; (c) that the
enlisted men aboard ship shall be given the same reward of pension and
retirement enjoyed by their brethren who fight ashore, while the uppermost
machinists are made warrant officers, to rank with the gunners and car-
penters.
i. Within the lifetime of a generation steam, with its attendant compli-
cated machinery, has been made the motive power of war vessels, and there
is a tendency now everywhere visible to add electricity to steam and to
multiply the number of engines in every great war ship, so as to furnish not
only the motive power, but the power by which the turrets, guns, and hoists
are handled. This has necessarily produced a revolution in tie organization
of the personnel on board modern war ships. There will always be special
need for men with the sea habit, who are accustomed to the ocean, who
already know how to take care of a boat or handle themselves aboard of a
ship, because such men show themselves the handiest and most resourceful in
any emergency, the profession of the sailor man being of course that which
develops the very attributes most needed in any sudden crisis on the sea. But
the class of sea mechanics has steadily grown in importance, and even among
those of the crew who are not technically mechanics — those who handle
the guns and ammunition hoists, for instance — there is a constantly increas-
ing need for a good degree of mechanical capacity.
All this applies as much to the officers as to the men. There has been, in
consequence, the friction and strain inevitable when a service long estab-
lished on certain lines finds itself obliged to conform to new conditions. This
friction has been immeasurably increased by the extreme suddenness with
which the change has come. At the outset of the civil war sailing ships were
still employed as part of the fighting force of our Navy, and at its end they
had passed away almost as completely as the galleys with which, two thou-
sand years before, the Greek, the Carthagenian, and the Roman had waged
war for the mastery of the Mediterranean. But even at this time steam was
chiefly used as an auxiliary, and the engines on board any ship were few and
simple. The New Ironsides, the most powerful battle ship in our Navy at
the close of the war, had but three cylinders; the Iowa, the latest launched
of our battle ships, has 152. She stands to the older ship as a modern repeat-
ing rifle stands to the old muzzle loading smooth-bore. She is beyond all
comparison more efficient, but she is also very much more delicate, and calls
for far greater skill in those who are to handle her.
The first war steamers had to be commanded and officered by men who
were trained in sailing ships, and who could not know anything of steam or
machinery. In consequence there were also put on board them men to handle
the engines, and these gradually grew into a separate corps. This met the
immediate need, but of course produced the evils and jealousies arising from
the existence in the same military unit of two separate bodies of officers with
7*7
separate, yet closely interrelated, duties, each naturally firm in the belief of
its own importance, and sensitive to any fancied slight by the other. The
evil produced by such a state of things has been generally recognized, and
all kinds of remedies have been advocated. As was natural, in groping about
to remedy a new evil caused by new conditions, it has seemed very difficult
to hit upon the right expedient. Yet in reality the remedy is simple and obvi-
ous. All that is needed is to make the line officer and the engineer the same
man, by throwing both corps into one; or in, other words, to do away with
the engineers as a separate corps by requiring all line officers hereafter to
possess that knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of steam engineering
and mechanics which it is absolutely indispensable for the thoroughly effi-
cient modern line officer to show.
Every officer on a modern war vessel in reality has to be an engineer
whether he wants to or not. Everything on such a vessel goes by machinery,
and every officer, whether dealing with the turrets or the engine room, has
to do engineer's work. There is no longer any reason for having a separate
body of engineers, responsible for only a part of the machinery. What we
need is one homogeneous body, all of whose members are trained for the
efficient performance of the duties of the modern line officer. The midship-
men will be grounded in all these duties at Annapolis, and will be perfected
likewise in all of them by actual work after graduation. We are not making
a revolution; we are merely recognizing and giving shape to an evolution,
which has come slowly but surely and naturally, and we propose to reor-
ganize the Navy along the lines indicated by the course of the evolution
itself.
There is a curious analogy between the condition of things at present
and the condition of things in the great European navies two centuries and
a half ago. It was in the seventeenth century that the modern fighting navy
appeared, that the modern war vessel, commanded and manned by men
trained specially to fight for the state, was differentiated from the vessel
owned by private individuals and built primarily to trade. In the days of the
Spanish Armada this distinction was still shadowy; the adventurous trader
used ships that were heavily armed and in time of war was normally a priva-
teer, while in any great crisis the private ships were joined with the state
ships to constitute the fleet on which the nation relied.
Half a century later, under Cromwell, the English began that career of
triumphant naval warfare which they waged at the expense of every other
European sea power in turn, and which ultimately gave to them the mastery
of the seas, and to their children, as a heritage, the continents that lay beyond
the seas. In doing this work it was speedily found necessary to establish a
permanent fighting force, for the privateers were merely ocean militia. In
the formation of this fighting force there was at first a sharp line drawn
between the men who handled the ships and the men who fought them. The
men who managed the motive power were often entirely distinct from the
728
men who directed the fighting. The first of the great English admirals was
Blake. He was selected to command on the sea because he had commanded
with distinction on land. His chief subordinates and successors in command
were chosen as he was. It was their duty to fight the foe, and they usually
left the sails to be handled by another set of men. Bkke was a born com-
mander, a born leader of men in battle, and he had in the men under him
splendid stuff out of which to make sailors and sea soldiers; so that he and
his successors won striking triumphs against enemies whose sea forces were
administered under a system quite as faulty. Nevertheless, the faults of the
system were so evident that it could not continue, and gradually the corps of
fighting men on board ship was amalgamated with the corps whose duty it
was to direct the ship's motive power, so that in time the fighting man was
required also to know how to handle the ship he commanded. This of course
meant that an additional demand was made upon both his moral and his
mental powers; but the demand was met without difficulty, and the last in
the line of succession of the great admirals of whom Blake was first were
men like Hawke and Rodney, Nelson and Collingwood, who were equally
efficient in fighting and in handling their fleets.
No half-way measure could have availed or could now avail. It would
have been idle to try to do away with the fighting man, or to keep the sailor
man distinct from him, while giving him the same title and power of com-
mand. Neither sailor man nor engineer can have the power of command nor
the title that goes with it unless he is himself trained in the actual fighting
duties; if he forms part of a separate corps, he can not be in line of com-
mand, and his position and function must necessarily be subordinate. On the
fighting ship the fighting man must stand supreme; only he must know how
to handle his tools, and must change as the ship changes, so that precisely as
he once knew about sails, now he must know about engines. There can be
no divided command. Only one man can exercise it; but he must be thor-
oughly fitted for it. It is not necessary that he should possess the manual
dexterity whether of the topman or of the engine driver; but he must have
passed through the training which will enable him to oversee and direct their
work.
A change like that which took place two hundred years ago must take
place now. As then the sailor man who knew only how to handle a ship had
to be merged in the trained officer, while the sea soldier who had once com-
manded his troops either ashore or afloat became also a sailor man, so now
the line officer and the engineer must become one. "Engineer" is an elastic
term, and even in the sense in which it is employed in the Navy it includes
men of widely different duties. The actual engine driver — the machinist —
is a man who corresponds with the man who actually handled the rigging on
the old-style sailing ship, and what we really need in handling the engines is
a body of machinists whose upper men shall be warrant officers, ranking with
the gunners, boatswains, carpenters and sailmakers. The constructing and
729
designing engineers — the men who plan and build the engines — should be
detailed for this purpose from among men who have shown special aptitude
for the work, just as is the case with those who plan and build the huge and
terrible guns with which modern war ships are armed. Between these two
sets of men there is room for the line officer and the line officer only, but
this line officer must be an engineer who, besides a theoretical knowledge of
his subject to be acquired by special courses at Annapolis, must have had
the practical experience to be gained by standing watch in the engine room
aboard ship.
Of course, such a proposition naturally meets opposition. The old line
officer wags his head at the thought of the new duties to be learned, just as
one of Blake's lieutenants, in his fierce battles with the Dutch and Spaniards,
would have wagged his head if told that he ought to know how to stand his
trick at the helm or to handle the rigging; while the old engineer officer,
untrained to military command, disbelieves in any but one of his own kind
being able to acquire the knowledge of his profession. Nevertheless, the
difficulties in the way of realizing the proposed scheme are in reality alto-
gether shadowy. The engineers are now taken from precisely the same class
of men, with precisely the same ideas as are the line officers, and when their
duties are made those of line officers they will show precisely the same
capacity for command. The line officers in turn are already of necessity
continually doing more and more engineering work. Electricity, for instance,
is in the Navy purely in the hands of line officers, who have developed it to
a high degree; while the ensigns on our torpedo boats, who are in fact,
although not in name, detailed as engineers aboard them, are having a train-
ing which guarantees their thorough efficiency hereafter in the engineering
part of their profession.
In short, it is absolutely essential that the best naval officer of the future
shall be proficient in engineering. The fact that Farragut knew nothing of
engines has no more bearing on die case than the fact that Blake knew noth-
ing of sails. Exactly as Nelson, who succeeded Blake, had to know details of
naval matters of which Blake was ignorant, so the Farragut of the future
must know what the great victor of New Orleans and Mobile Bay had no
chance to learn. This is an age of specialization; but there can be no special-
ization in command. In time it may very possibly prove desirable to differen-
tiate, less by law than by departmental custom, among the officers at sea, so
as to employ each principally along the lines for which he shows the most
aptitude, but they must remain line officers, the major part of whose duties
are identical; and the engineer must differ from his fellows only in the same
manner as the navigator or the ordnance expert does. If it is objected that
we are going to call for a very high order of capacity, we answer freely that
this is precisely our intention. The successful command of a modern war
ship does call for the exercise of a far higher degree of seamanship and far
better discipline than were needed for the management of one of the old
730
vessels. The best man to-day will be no better than the best man of past
times. Decatur or Hull, Perry or Macdonough, reached a standard which we
may be quite content to equal; but the ordinary man who could command
a frigate well enough in old days would unquestionably make a failure now.
We demand a higher degree of intelligence and greater nerve, and what we
demand we will most assuredly attain.
It is more delicate work to command the Indiana than it was a century
back to command the Constitution, but this is because in war, as in civil life,
the demands upon the leader of men have steadily grown more exacting.
• The increased technical training will be in no sense a substitute for those
qualities of daring resolution, cool judgment, power of command, willing-
ness to run risk, and readiness to accept responsibility which have in all ages
marked the great captains. It will merely be an indispensable addition.
One of the great benefits to be gained by the amalgamation of the line
and engineers will be in discipline. At present it is inevitable that there should
be more or less clashing and grumbling about the work of the machinists in
connection with the work of the rest of the ship's crew; this must always
accompany a divided command and the conflict of uncertain rights. The
chance of any one portion of the ship's crew being either favored or op-
pressed by a particular officer because it is or is not in his division will vanish
when all the divisions stand on the same footing.
To sum up, we must disregard the prejudices of the old-style line officer
and old style engineer, precisely as two centuries ago it was necessary to
disregard the prejudices of those who would have kept separate the functions
of the man who fought the ship and the man who sailed her. We must not
be misled by any false analogies, nor must we fail to understand that the
needs of a war navy differ radically from those of a merchant marine. The
naval duties of the man who runs the engine and the man who builds it have
no more necessary connection than have those of the designer of a crack
racing yacht with those of the sailor man who helps tend sheet or helm
after she has been built. On the other hand, the duties of a line officer already
include, in addition to duties on deck, such highly mechanical work as is
implied in the supervision of the electrical engines, the gun turrets, and tor-
pedoes, not to speak of branches like navigation and the compass art. The
building of engines, like the building of guns or torpedoes, must be done by
special officers selected or detailed for the purpose. The actual driving of
the engines, like the actual management of the sails, and of the electrical and
torpedo apparatus, must be done by the enlisted men. The duties of the pres-
ent seagoing engineer officer, the man who is neither a constructing engineer
nor an engine driver, must in the future be familiar to every captain of a
war ship who is to get the best work out of his ship. They should be spe-
cialized only as the duties of the navigator, the compass or electrical expert,
or the torpedo officer are specialized. All places of this kind alike should be
filled by detail, and all alike should be in line of command.
To blink at facts does not prevent the existence of these facts. Whether
a line officer is or is not required by law to know about the engineering
duties aboard his ship does not alter the fact that he must know about them
if he is to get the best possible work out of his ship. These duties are neces-
sarily part of the duties of the fighting officer of the future. We can refrain
from teaching him how best to perform them, but we can not ignore the
fact that they will have to be performed. The men who now go down to
the sea in ships must possess a thorough knowledge of the mighty and com-
plicated engines of destruction with which, in time of war, they will have
to contend for the mastery of the ocean. The captains in the conning towers
of the battle ships that take part in the next great sea fight will have demands
made upon them heavier than have ever been made in any sea fight in the
past, and only those in every way fitted in advance to meet the exigencies of
the supreme moment of their lives will be able to endure the strain without
breaking down. The need must be met, and it is our duty to see that it is
well met and that the officers upon whom this great demand is made are so
trained that they shall stand level to the crisis.
2. The problem of combining the line and the engineers is comparatively
new. The next problem, the solution of which is attempted in this bill, is
how to provide property for promotion. This is a very old problem. Many
different solutions to it have been tried in actual practice. No solution ever
has worked, or can work, so as to give entire satisfaction. But one of the
worst of all possible solutions is that which the United States has adopted,
that of promoting every one by pure seniority, without regard to merit, as
long as he remains in the service at all. Nothing but the fact that the per-
sonnel of our officers is of such admirable quality has prevented the naval
service from sinking into inefficiency under a system which rules out all
chance of rewarding high merit or punishing any but the grossest demerit.
This system of promotion by pure seniority is admirably calculated to pro-
duce long stagnation in the lower ranks, to secure the attainment of com-
mand only after the age when a man should begin to exercise command has
passed, and, finally, to make the promotion of an officer dependent, not upon
the zealous performance of his duties, but upon the possession of a good
stomach and of an easy nature; while a positive premium is put upon the
man who never ventures to take a risk, and who therefore never does any-
thing great, but who also, of course, avoids the chance of what would seem
failure in the eyes of the less venturesome.
The statement of the problem is easy. To properly man our ships we need
about three times as many officers below command grade as above it. At
present promotion goes purely by seniority, and each man, if he lives long
enough, and if those above him die quickly enough, will go solemnly through
all the grades, irrespective of his proficiency or lack of proficiency, so long
as he is able to develop the very negative virtues requisite to keep him clear
of a court-martial By the simple process of consulting any set of actuary
73*
tables it can be seen at a glance that this system insures a man spending much
the largest part of his life, including his most active and vigorous years, in
a subordinate capacity, including normally a quarter of a century as a lieu-
tenant, while at the very end, when long service in subordinate positions has
dulled his energy and probably rendered him unfitted to bear responsibilities,
he is thrust for a brief period into command rank, and is galloped at absurd
speed through the grades of commander, captain, commodore, and admiral.
The only way to meet this condition is to provide for the elimination of
some of the officers in the lower or middle grades, and thereby to hasten the
flow of promotion and to reduce the age at which command rank is reached.
It was deemed best by every member of the board to try the process of
eliminating the officers who were redundant, rather than of selecting the
highest for promotion; for although the latter method is ideally the best, it
would in any event have to be combined with the other, and it would in its
actual working be open to far graver objections. The only difference in the
board arose, not as to making die elimination, but as to die best method of
making it. The three dissenting members favor some scheme by which the
officers who are taken out shall be so taken by chance, or, as one of die
members expressed it, "without the intervention of human intelligence."
The majority of the board believe on the contrary that we should strive to
exercise intelligence rather than trust to blind chance, and should try to
eliminate the men who are least fit to perform the duties of the grade
to which there is to be a promotion. This does not mean that they are unfit
to perform these duties, but merely that among all of the officers who are
fit they are less fit than their fellows.
Thus to choose them out, of course, does imply the exercise of human
intelligence, and whenever human intelligence is exercised it is always pos-
sible that it will err; but it does not seem to us that we can safely assume
such errors to be the normal results of its exercise, if we are to go forward
at all.
It is obviously wisest that the choice of the men thus to go out should
be left to a board selected from among the best of their professional brethren.
Undoubtedly the friends of any man who is in jeopardy will strive to bring
pressure of every kind for his retention, and the pressure most to be feared
is that which is political. This can best be resisted by a board of officers of
the highest grade who we may be sure will normally, as required by their
oaths, disregard it; for as a body naval officers are singularly free from
political pressure and are single-minded in their devotion to the service. It is
highly undesirable that such a board should be hampered by law in the way
of restrictions upon the methods of exercising their power. To limit diem
in cut-and-dried fashion would be again to exclude them from exercising
that intelligence upon which, combined with a disinterested zeal for the
service, we must rest our hopes for the improvement sought to be attained.
Their decision should, moreover, be final, and without appeal; but as the
733
men selected to go out would not be so selected because they were unfit,
but merely because the others were more fit, their interests being thus sacri-
ficed to the interests of the service as a whole, it is deemed desirable that
amends be made to them, so far as may be, for the sacrifice thus exacted,
and that they be retired as of the grade above the one in which they are
actually serving.
Of course the board which makes these selections will err from time to
time, this being simply another method of stating that they are human; but,
at the worst, when they do err the results will simply be as bad as if it had
been left to chance, and when they do not err the results will be very much
better. Occasionally men will be put out who are belter than the least good
of those that are left in; but it is safe to say that the best men will never be
put out, as they sometimes would be if the outcome was left to chance
"without the intervention of intelligence"; and that those who are actually
put out will generally be the least fit, and almost always among the least fit.
The net result will represent a very great improvement.
Some plan of this kind is absolutely necessary, unless we wish to see the
junior officers of a ship men whose hair has turned gray during the genera-
tion which they have passed in subordinate positions, while the command is
exercised by men who reached it long after the time when they should have
assumed it, if their fitness is properly to respond to the measure of the needs
of an honorable service and a mighty nation. There must, therefore, be some
kind of weeding out, some kind of elimination of the redundant men whose
presence checks the indispensable flow of promotion. The only question is
as to how this weeding out shall be done. There are various systems possible,
but fundamentally they fall into two divisions. One of these contains all
where promotion is based purely on the automatic operation of law, elimina-
tion being likewise the result of such automatic action, so that it is a matter
of chance who is hurt or benefited. The other contains those systems where
an effort is made to promote or eliminate men in accordance with their
merit, running the risk of the promotions or eliminations being occasionally
made from favoritism of an improper kind — a risk that must be run in any
human scheme to reward good, or punish poor, officers.
Some evils will attend the adoption of any system, but the essential con-
trast between the two possible methods is that offered by the two diverging
views which obtain among the members of the board. The majority deem
that in separating the best officers from the worst it is safest to trust to a
body of the highest officers in the service, who have the interests of that
service peculiarly at heart. The minority believe that in this most important
of functions we should exclude the operation of that human intelligence
upon which we rely for all functions less important and should trust to a
blind chance which would be exactly as apt to strike the future Farragut or
Gushing as it would be to strike the man whose one ambition is to go through
734
his term of service with as little trouble to himself and with as much avoid-
ance of responsibility as is compatible with escaping the overt censure which
alone would at present bar him from promotion.
3. In providing for the rearrangement of salaries it has been necessary to
make an increase in the amount paid by the Government to the officers of
the new line, as it will be when the old line and engineers are united into
one. Part of the increase is due to the fact that we provide the additional
officers imperatively called for by the needs of the new Navy. We have not
enough officers now to man all of our ships, and even where some of them
are laid up in ordinary the battle ships that go to sea are painfully short of
their complements.
Furthermore, the pay of the officers has been graded so as to make it
equal to the pay of the other servants of the Government engaged in similar
duties. At present the line of the Navy is the most poorly paid branch of
the entire Government in proportion to the duties performed and the re-
sponsibilities involved. It is difficult to speak with proper restraint of a system
which cuts down below the pay of all similar servants of the Government
the scanty salaries of those men to whose valor, energy, and lifelong zeal
the honor of the nation is especially intrusted. The engineers are paid at a
much higher rate than the line officers; and in the event of the two corps
being combined it is certainly desirable to raise the pay of the old line officers
rather than to diminish the pay of the old engineers. All that has been done
is to equalize matters by giving the new body the pay now granted to the
marine officers and the Army. At present the anomalies in the Navy are
grotesque. Out of a given number of graduates from Annapolis the men who
go into the line — the men out of whom we are to make the Perrys, Footes,
and Hulls of the future — are paid the smallest rate of all. The men who
take charge of the marines are paid more, and most of all is paid to those
who stay ashore to build the ships which the others handle.
In one of the offices of the Navy Department at present there is on duty
a graduate of Annapolis, a line officer who receives a salary of $2,400. One
of the junior assistant constructors also on shore duty is this officer's son, also
a graduate of Annapolis some twenty-five years later than his father gradu-
ated. They will both receive a raise of pay next year, and their rates of pay
will then be precisely the same. In the Department here at Washington one
of the naval aids on duty graduated from Annapolis twenty-three years ago.
One of the assistants who is in the construction department graduated six
years ago. He receives $400 more than the naval aid, who was his instructor
at the Academy during the period that he was there. Most emphatically
there should be no cutting down in the salaries of any of the other officers;
but those of the line officers should be raised. It must be remembered that
with smaller salaries the line officers have greater calls made upon them.
When our ships are abroad, or when foreign ships are in port, our officers
735
often have to entertain the officers of foreign powers; and they are too proud
of their ships not to do this entertaining in the way that it should be done,
though it forms a very serious drain upon their slender purses.
The grade of commodore is abolished, save for the special temporary
purpose of command of a small squadron and the chiefship of a bureau. To
send one of our fleets abroad with a commodore in command, as is now
frequently done, of necessity means that we put the American commander
in a position of inferiority in point of rank to the commander of every
European fleet which he encounters, and this certainly should not be done.
4. The board has sought to raise the standard of the enlisted men in two
ways. In the first place, we have, as above outlined, provided for warrant
officers among the machinists, who form so considerable a portion of the
ships' crews. This is a reform which had just been adopted in the British
navy. In the next place, we confer the same rights as regards retirement and
pension upon the sailors that are already conferred upon the soldiers, length-
ening at the same time the period of enlistment. Of late years the Department
has steadily sought, and with a constantly increasing measure of success, to
raise the tone of the enlisted men. Year by year the percentage of the native-
born grows larger, while the number of those who are neither native-born
nor naturalized is being gradually eliminated.
The character of the enlisted men for sobriety, intelligence, daring, and
resource in time of crisis is improving steadily. The apprentice system has
worked very well indeed. It is eminently worth while for the Government
to attract to the service and to keep in it the very best material. The men
who in times of stress can do the best for the flag are those who regard the
Navy as their life career and the war ship as their sea home — men in whom
habits of discipline and order become second nature, and who also grow
to handle the great guns and the complicated engines with almost automatic
familiarity. By the establishment of the grade of warrant officers we have
held out the chance of good promotion and honorable reward to the men
who do best, and for all alike who do their duty faithfully we should pro-
vide a proper pension and a proper chance for retirement.
5. The only other change of importance in the bill is that which pro-
vides for a four years' term for the cadets, restoring to them their ancient
and appropriate tide of "midshipmen" — a title connected with the Navy
by a century's honorable use, and one which by immemorial association has
come to have a meaning in the service such as can not possibly attach to the
word "cadet." The bill proposes to do away with the two years' term of
service after graduation before appointment. The great majority of the naval
officers consulted heartily favor this proposition. They state that at present
the young fellows who are on their two years' cruise after leaving Annapolis
do not get the benefit of that cruise, because they are absorbed in preparing
for the pedagogic examination at its end, and that they will learn their duties
far more quickly and better and will more rapidly become practical sea
officers if they are only required to pass the necessary pedagogic examination
at the end of the four years' term in the institution itself and are immediately
afterwards put on the footing of other officers in the service. At present
there is practically no weeding out by these examinations, so that the two
years at sea is in no sense a probationary period, and all that is gained is that
during this very important first two years the men are distracted from learn-
ing the practical part of their profession by being obliged to continue a
course of preparation for examinations, of a type indispensable in fitting
them ashore for sea service, but inadvisable after they have actually begun
that sea service.
I have now, sir, given the reasons for every important feature of the bill
which the board has the honor to recommend for your sanction and for
adoption by Congress. The bill is so obviously in the interest of the whole
service, it will so unquestionably benefit that service and raise the profession
of the United States naval officer to a still higher level, that it seems unlikely
that there will be serious objection to what it proposes to do, save perhaps
on one point. This is the matter of expense. If the recommendations of the
board are carried out, if the increase of officers which they deem desirable
is required by law, and if these officers are paid as the Marine Corps and
Army officers are now paid, there will be an additional cost of nearly
$600,000. I should not recommend the expenditure of such a sum for any
but an important object. Nevertheless, sir, I not only recommend it in this
case, but I wish to state with all the emphasis possible that in my judgmeht
the question of expense is unimportant compared with the benefit to be
gained.
It is a vital necessity from the standpoint of the nation to have our naval
service perfect at every point. To provide target practice for all the ships
of our Navy now necessitates the expenditure of almost the same sum, that
is, $600,000 a year. This allowance for target practice should be increased,
not diminished, for it is all important to have our ships at the highest pitch
of military efficiency; and for the same reason there should be no hesitation
in providing for the necessary increase of officers and their proper payment.
There is no use in having the best ships and the best guns if these ships are
not to be handled in the best way and the guns served with the utmost
accuracy. Much depends upon building our ships and guns, but even more
depends upon using them aright after they have been built. We can hardly
pay too high a price for the highest performance of duty afloat, and the
best use of the material — that is, the most perfect training of the personnel
— can only be obtained by the expenditure of money. The men must be
drilled, and drilled, and drilled again; the ships must be maneuvered in
squadron month in and month out; the practice with the great guns at tar-
gets must go on without ceasing. Only in this way can the best results be
reached, and in this way they are certain to be reached. The personnel is
the vitally important point in any navy. It pays to wear out the mat6riel in
737
training the personnel, for the result is that the personnel reaches such a
pitch of perfection that it can respond to any possible demands made upon
it. It is wise to expend money freely upon the tools with which the officer
works, and the most important of these tools is the officer himself.
All that is done — the building of the ships, the training of the men, the
education of the officers, and the continued struggle to perfect armor and
instruments of war, for which millions upon millions are being yearly spent
by all the non-effete nations of the world — is for one purpose. All efforts
focus to the one crucial period, the hour of battle, where, when once started,
the one mind — that of the captain alone — decides whether the vast ma-
chinery of the battle ship responds well or ill to what is demanded by all the
weary years of preparation. It will be an hour of high tension, when the man
in the fighting tower must not fail his country, and it is our duty to see that
the man placed there is so chosen and so trained that he can stand the grave
test to which he will be subjected. We owe it to him that he should be prop-
erly paid. We owe it to the nation that he shall be chosen by the exercise of
the best intelligence and not merely by seniority.
We should consider well the question of the personnel. If neglected, all
other efforts to perfect the Navy will be as nothing in the end. We must do
away with every cause of weakness or disorganization. The captain in the
fighting tower must feel that every key he touches, whether it leads to the
engine room, the dynamo room, the torpedo chamber, or the gun turret,
deals with but one system, which responds to his will with zeal and intelli-
gence, and with single-minded devotion to the ship which at the moment
stands for the country. In view of how much there is at stake, the nation
should omit no effort, and be deterred by no ordinary expense, in promoting
the highest state of efficiency in the personnel of the Navy.
Considering the matter from the merely monetary standpoint, I may
point out that there has been no increase in the salaries of the officers during
the years which have seen a nearly tenfold increase in the value of the ships
intrusted to their care. In the old days a wooden sailing ship, with its arma-
ment of cheap cast-iron guns, cost little more than one-tenth of what a great
modern battle ship costs. We demand in the men who take charge of our
modern ships a degree of proficiency in the various branches of their highly
complicated profession beyond comparison greater than what was formerly
demanded. We require them to incur heavier responsibilities and run greater
risk, and where their duties are so much more onerous it seems but right that
they should be given the very slight increase of pay asked for.
Another reason why the Government should not be niggardly in its treat-
ment of the naval officers is offered by the very fact that these men put no
money value on their services and disinterestedly spend their best energies
and risk their lives on behalf of the Government without thought of money
reward. In a nation like ours, which of necessity tends ever to develop the
material side of life into undue prominence, incalculable good is conferred
738
by the presence of a body of men, the flower of the nation, who are trained
in a way that would insure an ample remuneration if they chose to go into
money-making in private life, but who throw aside the practical certainty of
private gain for the sake of devoting their lives to upholding the honor and
interest of the nation as a whole. Surely it is not only just but wise to pay
these men so that what they receive shall in some manner approach what
they really earn. At present we pursue the opposite course, with the result
that many of the best men in the service are continually being tempted to
leave it, because outside they can earn salaries almost ludicrously dispropor-
tionate to what they get as naval officers.
If, however, it is deemed expedient not to provide for the increase of
officers asked for, and for the payment of all of the line officers according
to the rate paid the marine and army officers, I have two or three alternative
propositions to lay before you. At present the engineer officers are paid more
than the line. Under the proposed arrangement the members of the amal-
gamated corps must of course all be paid alike; and it would be harsh and
unjust to reduce the engineer officers below what they are now paid. At
present the pay of the line and engineers on the active list is $2,226,500. If
the active list is increased, and is paid as provided for in the bill submitted
by the board, the pay will be $2,749,350, which, with the additional commu-
tation of quarters, would make an addition of about $600,000. This would
amount to just one-seventh of the cost of a first-class battle ship, not an
excessive price to pay for the increase of efficiency. The chiefs of the Bureaus
of Navigation and Steam Engineering, in their recommendations transmitted
by you to Congress, have insisted that there must be an increase in the per-
sonnel of the line and engineers to do the work of the Navy as it now stands.
If their recommendations were carried into effect the total pay on the
present basis and under the present law would be $2,806,100. Allowing for
a large increase in the commutation of quarters, the Navy pay under the
proposed bill would not rise above $2,888,000, so that the measure proposed
by the board would cost but $80,000 more in order to put the personnel on
a permanently effective basis than would the increase recommended by the
chiefs of the Bureaus of Navigation and Steam Engineering. If all our vessels
were commissioned, as would be the case in the event of war, the commuta-
tion for quarters ashore would be reduced to a minimum, and the amount
paid on the proposed bill would actually be less than would have to be paid
under the present law if the increase asked for by the chief of the Bureau of
Steam Engineering and the chief of the Bureau of Navigation — an increase
which is indispensable if we are to get the best work out of our ships — were
granted.
When the vessels now building and under repair are commissioned, the
least possible number of additions! officers needed in order to enable them
to get to sea will be 180. Unless the increase we ask is granted, therefore, we
shall be unable to man all our ships in the event of war. This proposed in-
739
crease merely allows for a bare complement of officers for the ships. It does
not allow as many as should be given them if they are to be fought effec-
tively. It represents the minimum number of officers for which this nation
ought, in justice to itself, to provide.
In case the increase in the number of officers is allowed, however, and
they are all granted the pay now given to the engineers instead of that given
to the line, the net increase would be about $135,000. If there is no increase
in number — that is, if the present line and engineer officers are amalgamated
and nothing added — then, with the proposed Marine Corps pay, the in-
crease would be less than $160,000. If under the same circumstances they
were all given engineer's pay, the increase would be less than $50,000. On
either of these bases the increase, of course, would be so comparatively
slight that it would be disregarded; but I earnestly hope that Congress will
allow the entire increase asked for.
I have the honor to be, with great regard, very respectfully
It may be that it will be necessary to substitute for section 13 of the
proposed bill a section which is more explicit as to the pay of the retired list
as it now stands, and of those who retire after the passage of the bill.
Some provision must also be made as to the maximum age at which offi-
cers shall be eligible for promotion to the grade of rear-admiral.
These changes in the report of the board I do not feel at liberty to make
of my own volition, but of course you can authorize them before sending
the bill to Congress.
872 • TO CLINTON HART MERRIAM Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, December 9, 1897
My dear Merriam: I am more pleased than I can say at what you have done.
No compliment could be paid me that I would appreciate as much as this —
in the first place, because of the fact itself, and in the next place because it
comes from you. To have the noblest game animal of America named after
me by the foremost of living mammalogists is something that really makes
me prouder than I can well say.1 I deeply appreciate the compliment, and
I am only sorry that it will never be in my power to do anything except to
just merely appreciate it!
About the Smithsonian matter: I have several things to tell you. Could
you come up and lunch with me on say Friday? We can lunch at the Shore-
1 See Clinton Hart Merriam, "CERVUS ROOSEVELTI; A New Elk from the Olympics,"
Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 11:271-275 (December 17,
1897). "I deem it a privilege," Merriam wrote, "to name this splendid animal Roose-
velt's Wapiti. It is fitting that the noblest deer of America should perpetuate the
name of one who, in the midst of a busy public career, has found time to study
our larger mammals in their native haunts and has written the best accounts we have
ever had of their habits and chase." Roosevelt, although he had been fighting with
Merriam about species and subspecies, here accepted Merriam's definition. Within
a few months he realized, as scientists now agree, that this was a subspecies.
740
ham caf6 at one o'clock if that suits you. Let me know if this is agreeable,
and whether you will call for me at the Department or whether we will
meet at the caf 6.
Again expressing to you my heartiest thanks, and returning to you the
manuscript, in which I find nothing to correct, I am, Faithfully yours
873 -TO FRANK MOSS Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, December 10, 1897
Sir: Dennis A. Jenvrin, a patrolman of the mounted squad, left the service a
year and a half ago, owing to grief at the loss of his old horse Frank. He
stated at the time that he could not bear to have another horse. I tried my
best to get him to stay in the service, but he insisted upon going out. As
was naturally to be expected, he has failed in getting any kind of satisfactory
work outside; and he is very anxious to be reinstated. I most cordially and
earnestly recommend him for reinstatement. Doubtless the chief knows all
about him. Very sincerely yours
874-10 ALFRED THAYER MAHAN ' RoOSevelt
Washington, December 1 1, 1897
My dear Captain Mohan: I will try to persuade Hoar to read that book; but
I earnestly hope you have written him personally. I agree with all you say
as to what will be the result if we fail to take Hawaii. It will show that we
either have lost, or else wholly lack, the masterful instinct which alone can
make a race great. I feel so deeply about it I hardly dare express myself in
full. The terrible part is to see that it is the men of education who take the
lead in trying to make us prove traitors to our race. Faithfully yours
875 • TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN Roosevelt
Washington, December 13, 1897
My dear Captain Mohan: I am exceedingly obliged for what you did about
Hoar. My telegram was sent after consultation with Lodge and one or two
others of the friends of Hawaii. It is bitter that there should be the necessity
of taking such action at all; but, as you say, it is due to the men of a by-
gone age having to deal with the facts of the present, complicated in this
case with the further fact that we have in America among our educated
men a kind of belated survivor of the little English movement among the
Englishmen of thirty years back. They are provincials, and like all pro-
vincials, keep step with the previous generation of the metropolis. The
Americans who are not provincials don't suffer from this trouble. Faitb-
futty yours
74*
876 • TO OWEN WISTER Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, December 13, 1897
Dear Dan: I have now read all your book,1 and taken it over to the Lodges.
There was only one article I had not read. Need I say, what I am sure
you would know without saying, how much I like it? There are a couple
of points which I shall criticize when we meet, but they touch what I have
already spoken to you about. I like not only the individual sketches, but
the book as a whole. Yes, it is well summed up in the closing poem; and
that's what I like about it. It has the broad humanity that comes when we
deal with any men of strong and simple nature, with any kind of strenuous
endeavor; and then it is a historic document for one phase of the life of
endeavor in our race's history which is as evanescent as it is fascinating.
There is more than Lin McLean in the book. There are Shorty and Chalk-
eye and Dollar Bill. There is the foreman, and why he was foreman; there
is Henry Wiggen, and how* he benefited by being a man of the world.
There are the pine-clad mountains, and the endless plains of lilac-gray sage-
brush, and the cotton woods that fringe the dwindling rivers. Of course
all appeals to me with peculiar strength.
No, I have never changed about that eye incident. It should be done in
the same way as Stevenson did the incident of the torture of the squirrel.
I am very glad that A Virginian is to appear in book form. It will in-
clude the "Emily"-hen, will it not? Faithfully yours
877 '.TO CHARLES FLETCHER LUMMIS RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, December 14, 1897
My dear Mr. Lummis: O, Lord, I wish I had a head into which things like
that would occasionally "pop"! Oughtn't that to be put into the Century
Dictionary? Horsewrangler is such a well-known term in the West now.1
I wish you would sometime write out, and put in permanent form, an article
on all these Spanish terms. Faithfully yours
878 • TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, December 14, 1897
My dear Captain Mohan: I had seen those allusions in the papers. I am glad
you liked the President's message. So did I, very much.
I share often the feelings you rather bitterly express in your letter; but
I take a grim consolation in thinking that we have acted quite as foolishly
*Lm McLean (New York, 1898). Four years later Wister's famous book, The
Virginian, was published.
1 On the same day Roosevelt wrote to R. W. Gilder suggesting that "horsewrangler"
ought to be added to the Century DictioTiary.
74*
during the past hundred years as we possibly can act now, and yet we have
lived through trial after trial and so we shall continue to do. At any rate
your creed and mine is and must be, resolute to do our best to stand by
our country to the utmost of our power, and to accept whatever comes. I
showed your letter to the President, who was much pleased with it. Faith-
fully yours
879 • TO WILLIAM WIRT KIMBALL RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, December 17, 1897
My dear Mr. Kimball: Both of your last letters gave me just the information
I wished, and moreover, your last letter especially was most interesting. I
have written Mr. Hawley as to the date you will be in Galveston.
Let me know when the row about the coal begins.
I am especially interested in what you say about the work of the dif-
ferent commanders of different boats. It has been the greatest satisfaction
to me that you should have been able to keep patching up and get your
boats along as you have. I am delighted at the way your officers are doing
the constructing as well as the engineering work.
I am afraid that our hopes as to the Spanish business are a dream; but
I am not sure. I doubt if those Spaniards can really pacify Cuba, and if
the insurrection goes on much longer I don't see how we can help inter-
fering. Germany is the power with whom I look forward to serious dif-
ficulty; but oh, how bitterly angry I get at the attitude of some of our
public men and some of our publicists!
Goodrich has the excellent fault of believing in the all-importance of his
own work. The College performs an invaluable function; but it is a peda-
gogic function, and this means that the War College must ultimately stand
under the Bureau of Naval Intelligence and not above it. If we ever get
a Chief of Staff it will not be the head of the War College, but some man
who will use the head of the War College as a subordinate in working out
problems submitted to him, and in giving hints. The Chief of the Office of
Naval Intelligence has got to be the man on whom we rely most for initiat-
ing strategic work; then he must draw on the War College to help him
out in solving the problems with which he is faced. I am having rather a
tortuous time with my personnel bill. Faithfully yours
880 • TO GEORGE ZURCHER RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, December 17, 1897
My dear Dr. Zurcher: 1 It is always a very real pleasure to hear from you,
and I am delighted to have not only your approval of what we have tried
1 George Zurcher, priest from Buffalo, New York, president of the Catholic Clergy
Prohibition League.
743
to do to substitute coffee for beer or liquor in the Navy, but also the very
interesting allusions to your running for alderman. I wish we had a few
men of your stamp in New York City politics. Faithfully yours
88 I • TO WILLIAM MACKAY LAFFAN RoOSCVelt
Washington, December 17, 1897
My dear Mr. Laffan: * I should like very much to review Mahan's new book
on The Interest of America in Sea Power2 for the Sun if you would like
to have me. Don't think that I want to impose myself on you, and do an-
swer perfectly frankly if you have other arrangements, or think that my
reviewing it would be inadvisable; but I should like to have a chance to
say something on behalf of Hawaii, and against the incredibly foolish and
unpatriotic opposition to annexation among educated men of the mugwump
stamp. Faithfully yours
882 • TO WILLIAM ASTOR CHANLER Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, December 18, 1897
Dear Willie: Did you get my note about that elephant hunting book by
Newman? Let me know if you have sent for it for me, because I want to
get it myself if you haven't.
Now, on a question of large politics. At the waterline partisanship ought
to disappear, and I know that you are as strong in your views of foreign
policy as Cabot and I are. It, seems incredible that the democratic party,
the historic party of annexation, should be inclined to go against the an-
nexation of Hawaii; but so it is. They seem willing to strike hands with the
mugwumps on this point. Gorman and Morgan in the Senate are out-
spokenly for Hawaii, and there are several other democratic senators who
would be for it if their party did not commit them against it. I think this
is the time when you could use your influence in a way that would be
invaluable to America on one of the very points which you and I regard
as most vital. Could you not see Croker and get him to use his influence
with Senator Murphy to go for the annexation treaty? It should not be
a party measure at all. We shall lose two or three republican senators of
mugwump proclivities, and if we win we must win by democratic aid. I
wish you would attend to this at once. Faithfully yours
1 William Mackay Laffan, editor and proprietor of the New York Sun, 1897-1909.
•Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future
(Boston, 1897).
744
883 'TO ROBERT HECTOR MUNRO FERGUSON Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, December 22, 1897
Dear Bob: No, I had not seen that poem. It is a bully one. I don't know
the writer at all.
You greatly alarm me about the fireworks. Washington is a very village-
like place, but remember that I live opposite the British Embassy and if
I let off those fireworks they will insist that I am in league with the
Fenians in an effort to blow up Sir Julian.
Sir Julian's good lady, by the way, and his eldest daughter, attend the
christening of Quentin tomorrow, where Cabot also will come, with
gloomy reluctance, as it is against his principles to sanction anything so
anti-malthusian as a sixth child.
No, I have resisted the pressure of the gosling1 and am not going to
China. Neither is he, for that matter, unless signs fail. Poor gosling! He is
a good fellow, but he is not up to the level of such a difficult task.
I wish you were here to take part in our Sunday scrambles. By the way,
Lehmann was on for a couple of days, and we did everything for him. I
think he is one of the nicest fellows I ever met.
Some photograph of Ethel you shall surely have, but we haven't been
able to find the wolf-skin negative. Faithfully yours
884 ' TO JOHN A. MERRITT Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, December 23, 1897
My dear Sir: l I am very much pleased indeed at your courtesy in writing
me. I don't know that my suggestions will do the least good, but it seems
to me that there are certain subjects which would lend themselves to
treatment that would make very handsome and very typical postage stamps.
Thus a picture of one of the horse Indians in full war dress with his bon-
net of eagle feathers; such a picture as that of a Cheyenne warrior in Fred-
eric Remington's recently published book of illustrations. Again, take a
picture of an old-time plains or Rocky Mountain hunter and trapper, which
could also be reproduced from Remington; an old < fellow with the full
beard, the belted hunting shirt and long rifle. Then again, one of Reming-
ton's cowboys would be an appropriate figure. I mention all these three
because from Remington's drawings they could be obtained readily; and
these drawings have great artistic merit aside from their wonderful fidelity
to nature. I suppose that an emigrant wagon, an old-style prairie schooner,
would take up rather too much room. It would be a thoroughly character-
istic subject, but I appreciate that on a postage stamp one does not wish to
aThe "gosling" was William Woodvffle Rockhill. See New York Tribune, Decem-
ber 22, 1897.
ijohn A. Merritt, Third Assistant Postmaster General.
745
have the figures too small or the subject too complicated. Thus in the
Columbian postage stamps the most effective were those where a single
ship or a single figure was used. Too much detail on a small space fails to
produce a marked effect.
If single portraits are to be used I could suggest no one better than old
Kit Carson. On the other hand Custer riding at the head of his cavalry would
be a most picturesque picture, and would typify the very great influence
the Army had in opening the West. By all means have one of those post-
age stamps with a buffalo on it. The vanished buffalo is typical of almost
all the old-time life on the plains, the life of wild chase, wild warfare and
wild pioneering. If any bit of scenery were taken I should suggest your
going up to the Cosmos Club here or to the Geological Survey and examine
three or four of their photographs of the boldest canon walls, or of Pike's
Peak.
With great regard, believe me, Very sincerely yours
885 • TO WILLIAM ASTOR CHANLER RoOSCVelt
Private and Confidential Washington, December 23, 1897
Dear Willie: Your letter pleased me very much, and it will delight Cabot.
I will now say what I did not write before, because I feared you might mis-
understand it, namely, that Cabot and two or three of the other Hawaiians
have been getting so irritated at the attitude of the pro-Cuban men that there
has been serious danger of their antagonizing Cuba.
My feeling about these matters is just this: I wish we had a perfectly
consistent foreign policy, and that this policy was that ultimately every
European power should be driven out of America, and every foot of
American soil, including the nearest islands in both the Pacific and the
Atlantic, should be in die hands of independent American states, and so
far as possible in the possession of the United States or under its protec-
tion. With this end in view I should take every opportunity to oust each
European power in turn from this continent, and to acquire for ourselves
every military coign of vantage; and I would treat as cause for war any
effort by a European power to get so much as a fresh foothold of any kind
on American soil. Now, our people are not up as yet to following out this
line of policy in its entirety, and the thing to be done is to get whatever
portion of it is possible at the moment. One year ago it was manifestly
impossible to annex Hawaii; but Cleveland came near being willing to inter-
fere on behalf of Cuba, In such case, though I think for military reasons
Hawaii is almost more important to us, I should have gone in heartily to
do what was possible at the moment, and should have tried to take Cuba.
At present, owing mainly to the change in the Spanish policy, it is not
possible at the moment to do anything about Cuba, but it is possible to
get Hawaii. In consequence it is obviously the proper thing for men who
746
feel as you and I do to take what is possible, that is, to take Hawaii.
Nothing would please anti-Americans of the Evening Post stamp so much
as to see us always refusing to do what we can, in pursuance of a proper
foreign policy, on the excuse that we ought first to do what we can't. More-
over, Hawaii is of more pressing and immediate importance than Cuba. If
we don't take Hawaii it will pass into the hands of some strong nation,
and the chance of our taking it will be gone forever. If we fail to take
Cuba it will remain in the hands of a weak and decadent nation, and the
chance to take it will be just as good as ever. As you know, our squadron
is going down to gulf waters this year. I do not believe that the adminis-
tration will admit even to themselves that this is due to the fact that they
are recognizing that our hand may be forced in the Cuban matter; yet I
firmly believe such to be the fact. I do not believe that Cuba can be pacified
by autonomy and I earnestly hope that events will so shape themselves
that we must interfere some time in the not distant future; but if we do
not take Hawaii now we may find to our bitter regret that we have let
pass the golden moment, forever. So that I believe you have done a wise
and patriotic action, and I congratulate you and thank you with all my
heart. Your letter is a good Christmas gift to both Cabot and myself. You
ought to get Mahan's last book on America's interest in Sea Power. Faith-
fully yours
886 • TO RICHARD WAINWRIGHT Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, December 23, 1897
My dear Mr. Wainwright: As you are unwise enough to want a picture of
mine, I send it. I wish there was a chance that the Maine was going to be
used against some foreign power; by preference Germany — but I am not
particular, and I'd take even Spain if nothing better offered. Always yours
887 • TO CARL SCHURZ Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, December 24, 1897
My dear Mr. Schurz: About January 8th I shall be in New York, and I
must have a chance to see you. What is your New York address? There
are one or two civil service matters that I want to talk over with you. The
President has been behaving admirably. As you know he feels, as indeed
I believe President Cleveland felt, and as all of us here feel, that there must
be certain exceptions made to the competitive examination list. For instance,
my chief, Secretary Long, than whom there is no stauncher friend of the
merit system, and who has cordially approved of everything I have done
for it in this Department, where we have even kept the private secretaries
of our predecessors, nevertheless feels that the liberty of appointing such
men as private secretaries, assistant attorneys general, and tie like, should
747
be left to the heads of departments; and that the actual working of the
system shows the practical impossibility of a competitive examination for
certain places — the most of the deputy internal revenue collectors, for in-
stance, and such sporadic cases as my own coachman here. In this instance,
the coachman is a man whom my predecessor, Air. McAdoo, appointed at
the very end of his term, the old coachman having gone crazy. He ap-
pointed a first-rate man, whom I have been only too glad to keep; but
I have had to fight to keep him because after a while the commission noti-
fied me that Mr. McAdoo had appointed him illegally, and that it was a
place covered by competitive examination. I asked for a certification, and
they sent me up three names, one of them a man who lived in western
Kansas. The other two I saw. One had been a hostler; the other had driven
a farm cart. Neither one could have been trusted for a moment to drive
a carriage in a city among cable cars and trolleys. After a while the com-
mission allowed me to keep my own man.
Now, as I said, some exceptions have got to be made, and the President
had intended to make them this fall, but very properly he has declined to
do so while the fight is on in Congress. At first the fight seemed very
dangerous; but thanks to the very aggressive work of men like Lodge in the
Senate, and Johnson1 and Brosius in the House, and thanks especially to
the President's open announcement that if they passed anything aimed at
the law he would veto it, I think the danger is now pretty well over. It
has been the roughest strain a President has ever been subjected to at the
outset of his career, and McKinley has stood it wonderfully well He has
stood it all the better because, between ourselves, some of die Cabinet of-
ficers have been very weak. I have been astonished in particular at one
man, about whom I will tell you when we meet. Faithfully yours
888 • TO C. WHITNEY TILLINGHAST, SECOND RoOSevelt
Washington, December 24, 1897
My dear General Tillinghast:* This is just to wish you a merry Christmas,
and to tell you that I shall not forget to warn you if I think there is any
danger of trouble. As I said before, if there is trouble I shall go down in
the New York contingent, whether it is to Cuba, or Canada, or Haiti, or
Hawaii; and I shall ask you and every other friend I have to help me arrange
matters so that I can go — although I don't believe there will be any diffi-
culty on that score. Faithfully yours
1 Henry Underwood Johnson, Republican congressman from Indiana, 1891-1899.
1 C. Whitney Tillinghast, adjutant general of the New York National Guard.
748
88p • TO CHARLES DWIGHT SIGSBEE RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, December 24, 1897
My dear Captain Sigsbee: x Your letter is not only extremely interesting, but
I think it is the most valuable letter that I have yet had. I will say frankly
that it has done very much to settle my convictions. Before taking my
present office the captains with whom I had been thrown most intimately
in contact were ardent believers in the theory of sails. More and more I
have come to the conclusion, not only that the stay in barracks ashore is an
absolute preliminary, but that we must face the fact that sails have gone
just as three centuries ago oars went. Your letter is most admirable. Inci-
dentally I may mention that I shall use it with some of my friends who
believe in sails.
Again thanking you very sincerely and cordially, I am, Faithfully yours
890 • TO FREDERIC REMINGTON RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, December 28, 1897
My dear Mr. Remington: You render it a little difficult for me to write you
because when you praise my book, and especially the piece of work of which
I am prouder than anything else I have done, you make it difficult for me
to write what I started to after finishing "Masai's Crooked Trail." x Are
you aware, O sea-going plainsman, that aside from what you do with the
pencil, you come closer to the real thing with the pen than any other man
in the western business? And I include Hough, Grinnell and Wister. Your
articles have been a growing surprise. I don't know how you do it, any
more than I know how Kipling does it; but somehow you get close not
only to the plainsman and soldier, but to the half-breed and Indian, in the
same way Kipling does to the British Tommy and the Gloucester cod-
fisher. Literally innumerable short stories and sketches of cowboys, Indians
and soldiers have been, and will be written. Even if very good they will
die like mushrooms, unless they are the very best; but the very best will
live and will make the cantos in the last Epic of the Western Wilderness,
before it ceased being a wilderness. Now, I think you are writing this "very
best."
In particular it seems to me that in Masai you have struck a note of
grim power as good as anything you have done. The whole account of
that bronco Indian, atavisitic down to his fire stick; a revival, in his stealthy,
inconceivably lonely and bloodthirsty life, of a past so remote that the
human being as we know him, was but partially differentiated from the
brute, seems to me to deserve characterization by that excellent but much
1 Captain Charles Dwight Sigsbee, commanding officer of the U.S.S. Maine.
1 Frederic Remington, Crooked Trails (New York, 1898).
749
abused adjective, weird. Without stopping your work with the pencil, I
do hope you will devote more and more time to the pen.
No, I haven't got Men, Women and Manners in Colonial Times, but
I will get it. With the vanity of an author I shall call your attention in my
book to the chapters dealing with the wanderings of the backwoodsmen,
with Wayne's victory, St. Glair's defeat, the Battle of King's Mountain,
and Clarke's conquest of the Illinois. If I am able to get on with the next
volumes, I shall try to give some account of what the plains were to the
first plainsman, and what these plainsmen did, just as I did with the back-
woodsman.
Now let me ask you a question: Do you know my Wilderness Hunter?
If not, will you let me send you a copy? There are two chapters in it —
the first, and one of the last — which I should rather like to have you read.
So just drop me a line, and tell me whether you have it. Faithfully yours
891 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, December 30, 1897
My dear Mr. Secretary: You can hardly understand the genuine thrill of
pleasure and gratification with which I read your more than kind note.
I am so pleased.
The increased cost of the retired list I had not gone into at length be-
cause I found it was difficult to get estimates of the probable length of
time that people would live. It will be about 109,000. If, however, this seems
a serious matter, I should suggest that we cut off most of the admirals, either
restoring the commodore's grade or not, just as you think best. In other
words, make most of the men retire as captains, while yet leaving enough
admirals to supply the command of the fleets on the home and foreign
stations. I would have every admiral a sea-going officer and have him serve
3 years. I will have a brief upon the retired list ready for you on your
return. Indeed I appreciate deeply your attitude about my report.
Before receiving your memorandum I had had Coolidge & Adams in
and given them an interview about Major Meade, telling them that I did
not want to go into the reasons why we thought Meade personally unfit,
but if he or his friends came into the papers again I should smite him with-
out mercy.
Yesterday, with the six-dollar plate fresh in my mind, I had a grand
session over a twenty-five dollar rug in the Bureau of Construction and
Repair. I haven't the slightest idea what rugs cost, and somebody told me
this was a Smyrna which struck me as over-luxuriant; but on inquiry I
found that it was an American Smyrna, which I understand is not bad, so
I finally allowed it. Everything else is getting along as quietly as possible.
Captain Crowninshield wanted me to see the President about having the
750
Marblehead go to Havana, but I told him I guessed we had better wait until
your return. He said you had been speaking about it.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Long. I am going to see if I can get
Peirce for a walk next Sunday. I wish I had known that yesterday was
Peirce's birthday. Faithfully yours
892 • .TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, January 3, 1898
My dear Mr. Secretary: You must get tired of having me write to thank
you for what you are always saying; but your allusions to me are so gen-
erous that they really make me feel uncomfortable. Now, in this last inter-
view, what you really ought to have said as to any differences of opinion
between us was that you welcome my advice, listen carefully to it, that
if you think it good you take it, that if you don't you reject it, and as a
matter of course I carry out whatever policy you outline. You couldn't
add, what I can and will add whenever the opportunity arises, and as often
as it arises, that it would be impossible for any man to have as a chief a
more generous and considerate, and yet a firmer and abler head of the
office than you are. As you know it has been an entirely new experience for
me to serve under a man like you. Of course you will never have any fric-
tion with me, excepting from wholly unintentional slips on my part, for the
excellent reason that I should regard myself as entirely unworthy to hold
such a position as I do hold if, now that I have a chief like you, I failed
to back him up in every possible way.
Peirce took lunch with me yesterday, and took part in the scramble in
the afternoon, and covered himself with glory by his tree climbing. Faith-
fully yours
«
893 'TO EDWIN LAWRENCE GODKIN RoOSCVelt MSS.
Private Washington, January 5, 1898
Sir: I have been greatly interested in the admirable editorial of last evening
upon the proposed personnel bill.1 There is one point upon which I think
the writer of the editorial misunderstands me, and I would like this letter
sent him merely for his personal use. He says: "Nor can we believe, until
it is proved by experience, that the qualities which make a Nelson, a Dun-
donald, or a Farragut, will be of subordinate importance in the naval warfare
*The Personnel Bill as proposed by the Personnel Board, of which Theodore
Roosevelt was president, provided for the amalgamation of the line and the engineers
as a solution for the long-standing antagonism between the two. The bill also pro-
vided for the creation of vacancies in the Navy list through voluntary or enforced
retirement. In the absence of such vacancies promotion had been very slow. W. W.
Kimball, one of the ablest officers, had been a lieutenant until his fiftieth year. The
agency enforcing retirement of the least competent was called the "plucking board."
The law, containing the provisions mentioned, was passed in 1899.
751
of the future." With this I entirely agree. I enclose a pamphlet containing my
report. I have marked certain passages on pages 5, 6 and 7, by which I think
you will see that I meant to state, although it is possible I did not state it with
quite sufficient emphasis, that I did not expect the line officer to know more
than would enable him to supervise and direct the work of the engine-
driver; and that I say specifically "The increased technical training will be
in no sense a substitute for those qualities of daring, resolution, cool judg-
ment, power of command, willingness to run risk, and readiness to accept
responsibilities which have in all ages marked the great captains. It will
merely be an indispensable addition." By this I meant to say exactly what
the reviewer says, namely, "that the qualities which make a Nelson, a Dun-
donald, or a Farragut, are of supreme importance," only that in addition
the present officer must know something about engines, as his predecessor
did about sails. I quite agree that he need not have a profound knowledge
of the laws of electrical, steam and theoretical mechanics, and that the tech-
nical qualifications of the trained mechanics need not be combined with
those of a naval commander; and for this reason I believe we ought to
provide for warrant machinists.
I quite agree with you that we should have had a separate corps for
constructing the engines, and I advocated this in committee, as did Cap-
tain Evans, but we were voted down; and being a practical man I know
we must accept compromises in order to get anything through. Sooner or
later this change can be made. Meanwhile we can get good work out of
a bureau selected by detail, just as the Bureau of Ordnance is selected by
detail.
So as regards the proposed flow of promotion. I myself favored out-
right selection for promotion. There were but two men who joined with
me in this, and the proposed plan is, I am well aware, only a step in the
right direction; nevertheless it is such a. step, and it establishes the principle,
which is the all important matter. Yours truly
894 • TO EUGENE HALE Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, January 5, 1898
My dear Senator Hale: 1 1 hope that if it is not too much trouble you will
read my report on the personnel bill. I think you will find the bill is sub-
stantially very much along the lines of your statement and proposed bill
printed on February 5, 1894. Unfortunately the Board couldn't take in the
Pay Corps and Marine Corps. I should like to have both of these corps
amalgamated with the line, precisely as you proposed in 1894. The increase
1 Eugene Hale, senator from Maine, 1881-1911, was a dominant figure in the Republi-
can party. First as member and then as chairman of the Senate Committee on Naval
Affairs, he for long was one of die determining factors in our naval history. After
the Spanish-American War his dislike of imperialism led him to oppose the expan-
sion of the Navy which he had previously championed.
75*
in the upper grades, and the process of elimination which we suggest, are
substantially on the lines of your measure. We have also provided for war-
rant machinists, who are the same as your proposed "warrant engineers."
I think the term "machinist" is better than "engineer." Personally I should
have preferred to have had the corps of designing and constructing engi-
neers as you proposed to have it, but the feeling of the committee was not
with me on this point, and I know we must get something we all more or
less agree to and all more or less differ from.
With great regard, Very sincerely yours
895 • TO RUDYARD KIPLING Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, January 5, 1898
My dear Kipling: As you say you will be in Cape Town, and as I don't
know where to write you, I send you this care of Scribner's, and I hope
that ultimately it will catch up with you somewhere.
It was very pleasant to hear from you. Of course I shall be glad to do
everything I can for Sidney Low.1 I know of him very well, and shall be
glad of the chance of meeting him. I'll get Reed and Lodge and one or two
others to dine with him here, and shall see that he has full opportunity to
go through our navy yards and the like. I guess I can put him through
all right, although I am sorry I am no longer in the Police Board, for that
gave me a chance to show anyone, who really wished to see, the inside of
New York matters. In spite of all the worry, and although I didn't ac-
complish more than half of what I wanted to accomplish, and often by
no means as much as this, yet I wouldn't have given up my two years as
President of the Police Board for a great deal. In the first place I did ac-
complish a good deal, and, in the next place, it was exceedingly interesting,
alike from the executive, die political, the sociological and the ethnic stand-
points. (Imagine my successor, Mr. Bernard York's feelings if he saw that
sentence!)
In New York there are rather over half a million voters. There is a very
appreciable percentage which delights in bad government. Counting in the
liquor sellers, who, for the most part, are obliged by their associations to
connive at a great deal of wickedness, and indeed to champion it, this might
be from ten to twenty per cent. There is a still larger percentage of voters
so very ignorant that they are quite indifferent to any appeal to their con-
sciences, though they can sometimes be reached by an appeal to their emo-
tions— an appeal which the average reformer, who is a somewhat bloodless
person, never makes. Then we have the two classes of the very good and
the pretty good, which together make a majority, but which generally are
1 Sir Sidney Low, British author and journalist, editor of the S*. James Gazette, 1888-
1898, leader writer on the London Evening Standard, 1898-1904.
753
either split up by a line running through both classes, or, as on the present
occasion, by a line running between them. The pretty good people don't
like the grosser forms of corruption, but are apt, like most of us, to resent
excessive and arrogant virtue, especially if it touches on puritanism. The
very good people, or at least the theoretically very good, include a number
of little groups, each group usually laying stress on some one virtue. The
Methodist, for instance, believes in honesty, but can much less easily be
roused on that score than on some issue which involves the suppression of
what is technically termed vice, or the support of a non-sectarian school
system. The Episcopalian on the other hand is usually very liberal in excise
matters, and cares but little for gambling, but wants in his public service
not only honesty, but the open profession of honesty; sometimes he accepts
the latter in lieu of the former. This year Tammany was bound to come
in. The republican machine, representing the pretty good people, and the
straight-out reformers, representing the very good people, had quarreled
among themselves and hated each other worse than they did Tammany;
and it wasn't on the cards to make a winning combination. Moreover, Tam-
many had been out of power some time, and its misdeeds were not fresh in
the public mind, whereas every slip-up of the reformers and every misdeed of
the Republican machine was fresh and vivid. So we got whipped. But Tam-
many won't be quite as bad as it was — at any rate for some time to come;
and in many matters she will strive to take exactly the position taken by
those she supplants. We have gained something; and whenever the chance
comes by which we may be able to make another successful alliance or
coalition of the shifting and heterogeneous anti-Tammany elements we will
gain a little more; and then when we do gain such a victory, it will, as on
this occasion, be followed by another defeat, which will rob us of most,
but not of all, that has been gained.
This navy work is extremely interesting. I am quite absorbed in it. Last
summer, by the way, I got Remington down for a three days' cruise with
the squadron. He was very nearly blown up through incautiously getting
too near the blast line of one of the 1 3-inch guns when it was fired; but
he enjoyed himself nevertheless. Your friend Captain Evans has been one
of my right hand men. The peaceful soul is now fretting his life out be-
cause he doesn't think it likely he will have any chance at Spain; so at the
moment he has gone off duck shooting with ex-President Cleveland instead,
and has just sent me a dozen canvasbacks. I was to have gone with him, but
couldn't, for the Secretary is away, and I am misguiding the Department
in his absence.
We were all very much pleased and touched at your dedicating "The
Feet of the Young Men" to Hallet Phillips. The afternoon before he was
drowned he was at the Lodges, and was reading to us part of the poem,
which you had sent him in manuscript. I do not know when I can recollect
a man whose death left so great a gap in so many families. He was always
754
so thoughtful and so unselfish that we miss him at every turn. Mrs. Lodge
and Mrs. Roosevelt felt literally as if they had lost a brother.
I saw by the papers that you had a son. I now have four, and two
daughters, the last baby being five weeks old. Remember me cordially to Mrs.
Kipling. Very sincerely yours
896 • TO CHRISTOPHER GRANT LA FAROE RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, January 8, 1898
Dear Grant: Mrs. Roosevelt was taken very sick with the grippe 36 hours
before I was to start for New York. Instead of getting better she got worse,
although now I think she is slightly on the mend. She was in no condition
for me to leave her and I had to give up going. I am exceedingly put out.
It is the first time I have ever missed a Boone and Crockett dinner, and I
have had to give up seeing Carl Schurz, Captain Mahan and you. Two
weeks from next Thursday or Friday I shall be on, however, and shall then
try to see you. I want to know everything that the Boone and Crockett
Club has done. I am particularly sorry that this year I was unable to get on
because I wanted to speak of that plan in connection with Wallahan which
really seems to me to have in it the possibility of great good. I should like
to have some say about the literary part of any book we publish. I hope I
was kept on the publishing committee with Grinnell.
Give my love to Mrs. La Farge. Faithfully yours
897 • TO IRA NELSON HOLLIS RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, January 10, 1898
My dear Mr. Hollis: Unfortunately I have already promised Frank Lowell
to stay with him if I stay anywhere; but I must see you if I go to Harvard.
Now about the personnel bill: I quite agree with what you suggest, but
I think that it should come when we get the personnel bill through. I don't
want to do anything to make friction about passing the bill. You have prob-
ably seen the editorials in the Evening Post which in effect complain that
too much is done for the engineers; and if we get the two sides balancing
accounts we shall have a discreditable wrangle and lose the bill. You know
Mr. Long's feelings and you know he can be trusted. I think that after the
bill has passed the suggestion you make is admirable, namely, to have a board
of officers and civilians go down and investigate the whole subject. Captain
Cooper will soon be replaced by another officer in the natural course of
events, and this other officer will have very much to do in shaping the course
of events at the Academy. Faithfully yours
755
898 -TO JOHN MCCULLAGH Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, January 10, 1898
My dear Chief: It is needless for me to write you how delighted I was when
I saw you made Chief. I was not surprised, however, because a fortnight ago
ex-Mayor Grant told me that he thought it would be arranged. He is a
staunch friend of yours, and I like him and his father-in-law, Senator Mur-
phy, very much, and have been speaking to them about you for some time.
I told them that I firmly believed you would pull exactly level; that I did not
believe you would do any crooked work for anyone; and that you would
perform your duty straight, just as you saw it.
Now, Chief, I want you to let me say a word to you merely as a man who
has backed you and been your friend. You have drawn one of the big prizes;
and in my opinion you have fairly won it by courage, ability and good con-
duct. The Chief of the Police of Greater New York is the foremost police
officer in the entire world, and he is one of the six or eight most important
men in New York itself. You have reached the pinnacle. Your place is as-
sured. You will leave a name and a great reputation to your children. Now,
on the other hand, it is a place of great temptation — political, and worse
than political, temptation. All kinds of chances to go crooked without much
risk of detection will offer themselves. I have the utmost confidence in you.
I feel that in the future, as during my own two years of office, your conduct
will amply and over and over justify the attitude your friends took on your
behalf. But I do want you to realize most seriously that you must not ever
make the least slip, for if you make even a small one it will give men a hold
upon you. Both Byrnes and Conlin had very great chances before them, but
they could not stand the strain; only a man of indomitable will, of great
power, and a resolute purpose for integrity, can. I am very sure you are such
a man, and I confidently look forward to the event proving my belief to be
right, and that every man of us will be able to be proud of you and proud
of the officers under you. Faithfully yours
899 • TO FRANCIS JOHN HIGGINSON Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, January 1 1, 1898
My dear Captain Higginson: x Your letter pleased me very much. About selec-
tion, I really think the proposed bill takes such a short step that it can be
practically disregarded. I question if, under it, for a score of years to come
there will be a single forced retirement; for I think that the very few
vacancies that will have to be made will be met by voluntary resignation. It
was a very difficult question and something had to be done, in view of the
Francis John Higginson, Captain, later Rear Admiral, U.S.N., commanding officer
of the Massachusetts.
756
feeling of the majority of the board, and I think we came as close as we could
to getting something that would not hurt any side very much.
At any rate, I wanted to take the occasion to make as strong a bid as I
knew how for the Navy, and to put as clearly as I could the services ren-
dered by the officers and the reward to which they were entitled.
With regard, Faithfully yours
900 • TO WILLIAM A. KIRKLAND RoOSCVelt
Washington, January 12, 1898
My dear Admiral Kirkland: * I fought stoutly for six vice-admirals but was
voted down. This is a bit of inside history which perhaps I should not give
you. I shall, on my own responsibility, ask the Committee to put in the vice-
admirals. Sincerely yours
901 -TO CASPAR FREDERICK GOODRICH Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, January 12, 1898
My dear Captain Goodrich: Would it be possible for you to come in at the
office at two p.m., Saturday? Unfortunately, as the Astronomer Royal will
tell you, Saturday afternoon and Sunday are the two days that I devote
mainly to the children, and it would break their hearts if I mix it up with
something else. I will try to get a glimpse of you anyhow, however. Faith-
fully yours
902 -TO CHARLES HENRY DAVIS RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, January 13, 1898
My dear Davis: I am very much concerned about your letter. It was not
until today that I learned from Nannie how serious the illness of Mrs. Davis
is. I am exceedingly sorry.
I have sent my letter to Goodrich to the Army and Navy dub.
I have been making a strong fight for the Board of Inspection. With the
design of hampering those who are moving for its abolition, I have been
putting them to work on plans about the battery of the new battleship; and
have also sent to the Secretary a recommendation that the plans of the
Bureau of Construction and Repair shall be sent to them for inspection and
comment, pointing out to him at the same time that they offer us the only
means by which lie Department can communicate with the men who actu-
ally handle the ships, and finding out at once what things should be here-
after avoided, and what repeated, in the matter of construction as tried by
sea use.
1 William A. Kirkland, Rear Admiral, U.S.N., commandant of the Mare Island
Navy Yard.
757
I am delighted with what you tell me of McCormick. I am no less de-
lighted at your explanation. Unfortunately in the Hawaiian matter I fear that
Congress will in its action realize McCormick's idea, and that its procedure
will be indeed untainted by human intelligence, and as automatic as McCor-
mick himself could desire.
I really don't know that Ted will be able to go on the walk on Sunday,
but the other children will be going; and anyhow Ted has set his heart on
showing Hendry and Daniel his electric battery, which now works, thanks to
the intervention of John.
I am very much pleased about the full-rigged ship for the Academy. I had
forgotten to speak to you about that. Faithfully yours
903 • TO C. WHITNEY TILLINGHAST, SECOND RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, January 13, 1898
My dear General Tillinghast: I don't believe that this flurry in Havana will
bring about a war; still it may, and in accordance with my promise I write
you. If there is a war I, of course, intend to go. I believe I can get a commis-
sion as a major or lieutenant colonel in one of the regiments, but I want your
help and the Governor's. I think you know that I would not discredit the
commission, and that I would do my duty. I have served three years as cap-
tain in the State Militia (not to speak of having acted as sheriff in the cow
country!), and I believe I would be of some use with the President in seeing
that the New York troops, or some of them, were at once used in active
service.
I will keep you informed as rapidly as I find out anything that I think
you ought to know, and of course you are very welcome to show my letters
to the Governor. Faithfully yours
904 • TO FRANCIS VINTON GREENE RoOSevelt MSS.
Washington, January 13, 1898
My dear Colonel Greene: In view of this morning's news from Havana it
seems to me possible, although not probable, that we may have trouble with
Spain. If so, I must ask you to let me know just as soon as possible if I can
go under you as one of your majors. I am going to go somehow. I think I
could probably be of assistance to you in seeing that the regiment was taken
into active service at once, and I know I could very speedily perform the
duties to your satisfaction. I will have to know so as to shape my course.
Sincerely yours
P.S. I have recommended to the Secretary today to establish a dry dock
board to oversee the building of dry docks, the board to consist of five
758
members, two to be civilians, and one of these civilians to be George C.
Greene.1 His displacement was a typical Tammany act.
905 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, January 14, 1898
Sir: In one way it is of course proper that the military and naval branches of
the Government should have no say as regards our foreign policy. The func-
tion of the military army is merely to carry out the policy determined upon
by the civil authorities.
Nevertheless, sir, it will be absolutely impossible to get the best results out
of any military policy unless the military authorities are given time well in
advance to prepare for such policy. At present the trouble with Spain seems
a little less acute, but I feel sir, that I ought to bring to your attention the
very serious consequences to the Government as a whole, and especially to
the Navy Department, (upon which would be visited the national indigna-
tion for any check, no matter how little the Department was really respon-
sible for the check) if we should drift into a war with Spain and suddenly
find ourselves obliged to begin it without preparation, instead of having at
least a month's warning, during which we could actively prepare to strike.
Some preparation can and should be undertaken now, on the mere chance of
having to strike. In addition to this, when the blow has been determined upon
we should defer delivering it until we have had at least three weeks or a
month in which to make ready. The saving in life, money, and reputation by
such a course will be very great.
Certain things should be done at once if there is any reasonable chance of
trouble with Spain during the next six months. For instance the disposition
of the fleet on foreign stations should be radically altered, and altered with-
out delay. For the past six or eight months we have been sending small cruis-
ers and gunboats off to various ports of the world with a total disregard of
the fact that in the event of war this would be the worst possible policy to
have pursued. These smaller cruisers in the event of war would be of use only
on one or two points. If scattered about the high seas they would be worse
than merely useless; for they would inevitably run the risk of being snapped
up by the powerful ships of the enemy which they cannot fight, and from
which they are too slow to run; and every such loss would be an item of
humiliation for the Department and for the nation. If we have war with
Spain there will be immediate need for every gunboat and cruiser that we
can possibly get together to blockade Cuba, threaten or take the less pro-
tected ports, and ferret out the scores of small Spanish cruisers and gunboats
which form practically the entire Spanish naval force around the Island.
Probably a certain number of our smaller cruisers could be used with advan-
1 George Sears Greene, Jr., brother of Francis V. Greene, a civil engineer expe-
rienced in constructing dry docks.
759
tage in the Asiatic Squadron for similar work around the Philippines. In these
two places the unarmored cruisers would be very valuable. Everywhere else
they would simply add an element of risk and weakness to our situation.
We have now in home waters on the Atlantic Coast, the Marblehead,
Montgomery and Detroit, three thoroughly efficient ships for the work we
would need around Cuba. We also have the Vesuvius, which could be used
for the same purpose, although its field of usefulness would be limited. We
also have ready the Nashville, Annapolis, Newport and Vicksburg, and the
Princeton is almost ready. These four vessels are of the so-called gunboat
class, and if used instantly on the outbreak of war, together with others of
their kind, they would practically root out the small Spanish vessels in the
Cuban waters. If there was a delay of two or three weeks some of these small
Spanish vessels might inflict serious depredations in the way of attacks on
our merchant marine or on our transports, especially if the Army was sent
to Cuba. The Princeton should be pushed to immediate completion. The
Nashville should not be allowed to leave our shores, the Newport should be
recalled to Key West; and the Vicksburg sent there.
On the South Atlantic Station we have the Cincinnati, a very efficient
fighting cruiser of small coal capacity, and two gunboats the Wilmington and
Castine. If we have a war now these ships should all be recalled. It will take
them thirty days to get home, and they will reach here without any coal.
In other words for the first five or six most important weeks of the war
these vessels will be absolutely useless, and might as well not be in existence.
In my opinion they should tomorrow be ordered to Pernambuco. When they
get there a week or two hence, we can then tell whether to bring them back
to Key West or not. They should be at Key West and filled with coal and in
readiness for action before the outbreak of hostilities. The presence of the
Cincinnati might make the difference of being able to reduce Matanzas at
the same time we blockade Havana. The presence of the two gunboats might
make the difference of destroying a Spanish flotilla, or of driving out the
Spanish garrison from one end of the Island.
More urgent still is it to take action with regard to the vessels in Europe.
These include the San Francisco, a good cruiser, of not very great coal ca-
pacity, and with slow-fire six-inch guns; the Helena, a small gunboat, and
the Bancroft, a still smaller gunboat. The Helena and Bancroft should be
brought back from Europe today if there is the slightest chance of war with
Spain. Against any fair-sized cruiser they could make no fight, and they are
too slow to escape. The best that could happen in the event of war, would
be that they would be shut up in a European port, if they stay where they
now are. They would run great risk of capture, which, aside from the loss,
would mean humiliation. If brought back however, they would aid materially
in the reduction of Cuba for the reasons given above. I should also bring the
San Francisco immediately back the minute a chance of war came. The San
Francisco is a respectable fighting ship. She could aid not merely in the
760
blockade of Cuba, but in the attack on some of the less protected towns; but,
like the Philadelphia, she is not fit to oppose a first-class modern cruiser,
thoroughly well armed. Her coal capacity, although respectable, is not very
great, and she is probably not swift enough to insure her escape if pursued.
For these reasons I do not think that she should form a part of the flying
squadron, the sending out of which into Spanish home waters I regard as one
of the most essential elements in the plan of campaign yesterday submitted
to you. Accordingly she should be brought home.
On the Asiatic station Commodore Dewey will have the Olympia, Boston,
Concord and Petrel. This will probably be enough to warrant his making
a demonstration against the Philippines, because he could overmaster the
Spanish squadron around those islands. At the same time the margin of force
in his favor is uncomfortably close, and I should advise in the event of trou-
ble with Spain that the Baltimore, Bermington, Marietta, and possibly the
Wheeling, be sent to him in advance. If we had trouble with any power but
Spain I should not advise Hawaii being left unprotected, but with Spain I
do not think we need consider this point.
One of the most important points in our scheme of operations should be
the flying squadron. This should especially be the case if we are not able to
bombard Havana. To my mind the chief objection to bombarding Havana is
to be found in the lack of ammunition, of which we are so painfully short. I
believe we could reduce Havana, but it might be at the cost of some serious
loss, and, above all, at the cost of exhausting our supply of ammunition. If we
bombard Havana we must make it a success at any cost for the sake of the
effect upon the people. If we do not bombard it, then we must do something
else, for effect on the people, and upon the Navy itself. This something else
can partly take the shape of the capture of Matanzas and other towns and the
rooting out of the Spanish cruisers around Cuba; but we especially want to
keep the Spanish cruisers at home to prevent depredations on our own coast.
In fighting efficiency the Spanish fleet is about double what it was so late as
last April. They now have seven battleships, which, in average strength, are
about equal to the Maine and Texas. We could beat these seven battleships if
we could get at them, but they could cause us trouble if we allowed them to
choose the time and place of attack. If, however, we send a flying squadron,
composed of powerful ships of speed and great coal capacity, to the Spanish
coasts we can give the Spaniards all they want to do at home, and will gain
the inestimable moral advantage of the aggressive. The ships to be sent in this
squadron should be the New York and Brooklyn, the Minneapolis and Co-
'ztmbia, and two of the auxiliary steamers like the St. Paid and New York of
:he American line, which steamers could be fitted in about «ten» days. The
iquadron should start the hour that hostilities began; it should go straight
:o the Grand Canary, accompanied by colliers. At the Grand Canary they
hould coal to their limit and leave coal there, if possible under some small
ruard. They should then go straight up, say through Gibraltar by night and
761
destroy the shipping in Barcelona, returning immediately to the Grand Ca-
nary. If the Spaniards had occupied the Grand Canary in force, they could
then go home. If not, they could replenish with coal, and strike Cadiz; then
go off the coast and strike one of the northern seaports on the Bay of Biscay.
Probably after this they would have to return home. Such an enterprise
would, in all human probability, demoralize the Spaniards, and would cer-
tainly keep their fleet in Spanish waters, for they would be "kept guessing"
all the time. Only the vessels I have named above would be fit to take part
in the enterprise. The Columbia and Minneapolis are now laid up. It would
take them three weeks to get ready. They are only valuable for just such an
operation, and the operation would itself be of most value at the very outset
of the war. They should therefore be got ready at once and kept in readi-
ness so long as there is the least danger of war with Spain. Their captains
should be assigned them, not because it is any man's turn to be assigned, but
with a view to the fact that we will need for this flying squadron the very
best men in the Navy. I should strongly advise, in the event of war, your
substituting one or two men who now have no ships in the place of one or
two of those who have ships; but in any event when the Columbia and Min-
neapolis are commissioned they should be sent to sea under a couple of the
very best men whom you now have ashore.
Our most urgent need is ammunition. If there is any prospect of war,
steps should be taken in advance to get this ammunition. We should have to
accept a less high grade of powder than we now demand, and should have
to get the companies to work night and day.
We also need more men. The battleships left on the Pacific could per-
haps be depleted of most of their men, who should be sent east; and we
could fill their places, temporarily at least, by the naval militia on the Cali-
fornia coast. At the same time we should draw on the best of the naval
militia on the Atlantic coast, and on any force that we can get from the
Revenue Marine and Coast Survey; and this in addition to the extra men
who should be immediately provided for by Congress. Our best ships are
now undermanned. In the event of war I wish to reiterate what I have said
in two or three former reports, that we should increase the number of offi-
cers on the battleships.
The work should be pushed with the utmost energy on the Puritan and
Brooklyn. If war came tomorrow we should have no ships ready to put in
this flying squadron except the New York.
Well in advance we should get every vessel we may possibly need, and
especially an ample supply of colliers. It is extraordinary how many of these
vessels would be needed under the conditions of actual sea service in time
of war with a modern fleet, and lack of coal will reduce the Navy to im-
mediate impotence. As soon as war broke out we could of course no longer
get coal in foreign ports.
Some of the steps above advised should be taken at once if there is so
762
much as a reasonable chance of war with Spain. The others it is not necessary
to take now, but they should be taken well in advance of any declaration of
war. In short, when the war comes it should come finally on our initiative,
and after we had had time to prepare. If we drift into it, if we do 'not pre-
pare in advance, and suddenly have to go into hostilities without taking the
necessary steps beforehand, we may have to encounter one or two bitter
humiliations, and we shall certainly be forced to spend the first three or four
most important weeks not in striking, but in making those preparations to
strike which we should have made long before. Very respectfully
906 • TO BOWMAN HENDRY MC CALLA RoOS6Velt MSS.
Washington, January 15, 1898
My dear Captain McCalla: I am very much obliged to you for your kind
letter. Unfortunately, Boutelle, the Chairman of the House Naval Commit-
tee, for some absolutely unknown reason, has taken a violent prejudice
against me. I haven't even seen him since I got into office, and I am very
much afraid he will look at the bill through jaundiced spectacles. Still, we
may prove too much for him. Very sincerely yours
907 ' TO HERMANN SPECK VON STERNBERG RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, January 17, 1898
My dear Sternberg: It was delightful to hear from you again, especially as
I gather that your health must be very nearly restored. We miss you and
Springie all the time. There is no one to take your place. I have had two of
the members of your Embassy here — Count von Gotzen and Baron Her-
mann — on my walks. But they can't walk like you, and of course even if
they could walk they wouldn't in any way take your place otherwise. I
have, however, developed a great companion in the shape of one of our
Army Surgeons. He is a graduate of Harvard, and he took part in the most
severe of the Apache campaigns, and was one of the three men in our troops
who could march as well as the Apaches, week in and week out, over the
deserts. He is a splendid fellow. Every Sunday we take our children out for
a scramble up Rock Creek, and we get away alone whenever we can on a
weekday afternoon. There is also an Army captain here who goes with me
occasionally, and so does a young Harvard fellow, both of whom you would
like.
Between ourselves I have been hoping and working ardently to bring
about our interference in Cuba. If we could get the seven Spanish ironclads
together against our seven seagoing ironclads on this coast we would have a
very pretty fight; and I think more could be learned from it than from the
Yalu;1 but unless their ironclads came across I think that the war at sea
would mainly take the shape of a blockade of the Cuban coast, although I
have a couple of plans which, if I can persuade the Department to adopt
them, will be sure to produce interesting results of some kind. I wish I could
get you over here if there were any trouble.
Mrs. Roosevelt is not very well at present, as she has a severe attack of
grippe. She has a little baby two months old, so we now have six children,
— four sons and two daughters. She often speaks of you, and she sends you
her warm love. The Lodges also join in; they are as delightful as ever.
I am glad Mahan is having such influence with your people, but I wish
he had more influence with his own. It is very difficult to make this nation
wake up. Individually the people are very different from the Chinese, of
course, but nationally our policy is almost as foolish. I sometimes question
whether anything but a great military disaster will ever make us feel our
responsibilities and our possible dangers; and of course in the event of such
disaster, instead of blaming themselves they will blame the officers to whom
they have refused to give the means which would have averted the disaster.
I do not believe we shall make very much advance with our navy in point
of numbers this session. In the Pacific we are now inferior to Japan, and we
shall continue to be inferior. The Japs are going ahead wonderfully. I do
not know whether they can stand the strain financially, but if they can they
will be a formidable counterpoise to Russia in the Far East. Just at present
it is very doubtful whether we will take Hawaii when offered to us. Such
folly, in refusing it, would seem incredible; but there is great danger of our
committing it. Moreover, if we did refuse it it would be quite on the cards
that with utter lack of logic we would go to war with some other power for
having taken it. Of course I feel that we ought to have interfered in Cuba
long ago.
Our new navy rifle is not yet satisfactory. Sometimes it does not shoot
very accurately, and the machinery is a little apt to get out of order. I
supposed with all these weapons time has to be taken before they can really
be put in very good trim. I got no shooting this year. That is a wonderful
ram's head of Litdedales.
It was a great pleasure to hear from you. Do drop me a line now and
then. Faithfully yours
908 • TO CHARLES HENRY DAVIS RoOSCVelt AiSS.
Washington, January 17, 1898
My dear Davis: I am inclined to agree with your plan. There is only one
point about which I am in doubt. If the Spaniards are left free they may
send fast cruisers under the Spanish flag to hover off some of our ports. If
1The batde of Yalu River in the Sino- Japanese War, 1894; the first real engagement
between ships with "modern" rifles and armor.
764
the flying squadron should occupy them at home these fast cruisers wouldn't
come. Of course there is nothing I should so much like as to see their seven
ironclads come over to Cuba and fight our squadron. Faithfully yours
1 hope Mrs. Davis continues to improve.
909 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CoivleS AfSS.°
Washington, January 17, 1898
Darling Bye, Edith does not seem to get much better; she has very bad
neuralgic pains, and is weak. Ted has dreadful headaches each day. The
others, thank Heaven, are well. I am not at all easy about Edith.
I am very glad Douglas & Corinne will be in for the night, I hope of
Thursday the zyth; I shall have to come back here on Saturday morning;
but I shall reach your house Thursday afternoon. I do not think Carl Schurz
would be a good man at that dinner — much the reverse! But why not ask
the Canfields? or your friend George Vanderbilt?
In haste, Yours ever
9 I O • TO WILLIAM EMLEN ROOSEVELT Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, January 20, 1898
Dear Emlen: Will I have to pay that personal tax if I am not a resident of
New York? I now vote in Oyster Bay and pay my personal tax there. I
don't see how they can collect it. If you think it right will you forward the
enclosed letter? Faithfully yours
911 • TO C. ROCKLAND TYNG Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, January 20, 1898
Sir: * I have received your notification that I am assessed on a personal estate
of $50,000. I am not a resident of New York City. I live and vote at the
town of Oyster Bay, L.I., where I pay my personal tax. I have not been a
resident of New York since the ist of May, last, at which time I gave up
my house at 689 Madison Avenue. I am now in the government service, and
it is very inconvenient for me to get on to New York. May I trespass on
your courtesy to know whether this statement will not be satisfactory, so
that I need not appear before the board in person? Yours truly
[Handwritten] PS I have no personal property liable to taxation in the
city of New York2
1 C. Rockland Tyng, secretary, Department of Taxes and Assessments, New York
City.
* "Die postscript to this letter was written in the hand of someone other than Roose-
velt.
765
9 1 2 - TO DOUGLAS ROBINSON Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, January 20, 1898
Dear Douglas: Just a line to say that this morning for the first time Edith
seemed really better. The wretched Ted continues just the same.
The Department of Taxes and Assessments has notified me that I must
pay $50.00 personal tax in New York. I live at Oyster Bay, where I vote and
pay my personal tax. Is there any way that it would be possible to have this
attended to for me before the Department of Taxes and Assessments, or
must I appear myself? Could they collect it if I refused to pay it? Faithfully
yours
913 -TO GEORGE HAVEN PUTNAM RoOS6Velt
Washington, January 21, 1898
Dear Haven: I wish I could answer you definitely, but it simply isn't in my
power. I believe that this summer I shall be able to break the back of the
next two volumes of The Winning of the West or at least of the next vol-
ume. It is, however, very unlikely that I can get both volumes through for
two or three years to come. I could probably get you Vol. V out in a year
or eighteen months, but that would be the earliest and I wouldn't guarantee
even that. I am a very busy man here.
Would you like to publish Vol. V separately, or would you want to
wait for the next two or four volumes and publish them all at once? Faith-
fully yours
P.S. Vol. V would deal with the War of 1812.
914 • TO ROBLEY DUNGLISON EVANS RoOSCVelt
Private Washington, January 22, 1898
My dear Captain Evans: I fear in view of the fact that the administration
seems to be traveling in the footsteps of its predecessor as regards Cuba, that
there is nothing of sufficient importance to warrant my bringing you up,
unless there is some other excuse; so I shall put off trying to see you for
the time being. Faithfully yours
9 1 5 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES Co<wleS
Washington, January 25, 1898
Darling Bye, I have no engagement on Thursday evening, I am happy to
say. I have utterly forgotten what Ludlow's dinner was; and I wo'nt go if
I know myself!
Edith is a little better; Ted no better; & this morning Kermit seems sick.
766
Only my positive engagements make me leave at this time — and I should
have deferred them had it been possible. Always yours
I guess Edith will have to wean the baby.
916 ' TO FRANKLIN HALL Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, January 29, 1898
Dear Hall: 1 1 would like you as soon as possible to find out for me the fol-
lowing facts:
1. In my tax statement, where do I put down my residence, if anywhere?
2. Do I pay on personal property as well as on real estate?
3. If so, how much do I pay for each?
Please find out this and send it to me as soon as possible. Very truly yours
917-10 JAMES ALFRED ROOSEVELT RoOSevelt M.SS.
Washington, January 31, 1898
Dear Uncle Jim: I have no question that it is just as you say. There is this
solitary ray of hope, however, that the taxes are levied at entirely different
times, and that the tax for Oyster Bay was last summer, and for New York
was this winter. By November ist last I had given up my last shred of resi-
dence in New York, had no intention of voting there, and did not vote, and
of course, as a matter of fact, am in no way a resident. I have sent on to
Hall, however, to find out exactly how things are.
Edith had a relapse while I was gone. She now seems to be a little better.
Ted is a little worse, and I am going to have a consultation about him.
It was very pleasant catching a glimpse of Aunt Lizzie and you. Faith-
fully yours
9 1 8 • TO ROWLAND WARD, LIMITED Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, February 4, 1898
My dear Sir: Please send me Turner-Turner's Three Years' Hunting and
Trapping in the Canadian North-West. Will you also let me know whether
his Life in the Backwoods consists merely of photographs, or is a separate
volume with texts?
Is W. Montague Kerr's book The Far Interior a narrative of sport or not?
I have never before heard of James Chapman's Travels in the Interior of
South Africa. If you deem this a trustworthy book please send it to me.
Also send me Major Cumberland's Sport on the Paimrs and Turkestand
Steppes, and W. L. Distant's A Naturalist in the Transvaal.
Is W. D. Wilcox's Camping in the Canadian Rockies a book of sport?
franklin Hall, long in the service of the Roosevelt family at Oyster Bay, later
chief messenger at the White House.
767
Please send me Darrah's Sport in the Highlands of Kashmir when it is
ready.
Mr. Astor Chanler was going to get me a copy of Newmann's Elephant
Hunting in East Equatorial Africa. Can you tell me if he has put his name
down for any copies? When will these last two books be out? Very respect-
frilly
919 • TO WILLIAM AUSTIN WADSWORTH Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, February 4, 1898
Dear Austin: Gordon1 is a very nice fellow, a most gallant soldier, and for-
merly a Senator from Georgia. He is of the florid, enthusiastic type. If he
owned a plantation I should like nothing better than to accept an invitation
from him for a hunt, and if I could do so conveniently I would, in return,
give him a helping hand; but I should be a little cautious about going into a
business scheme with him. If he gets good men the scheme would turn out
well; otherwise it won't.
I am going to write to Grinnell and LaFarge a kind of wail of protest
about the Boone and Crockett Club. You were saying very properly that
we ought to have our own members mainly at the dinners. I quite agree with
you, and in order to malce the dinners a proper size, we ought to have a
much larger membership. I can't see any earthly reason for not taking all of
the good fellows we can. There are a whole lot of fellows who are outside
whom I would rather have in than at least half of the present members.
Moreover, I think it was a mistake to put the requirements so high. I would
prefer to give the committee more absolute authority in the matter. My
friend Captain Brownson here is a dead game sport; he has killed two moose,
which is very much more to his credit than if he had killed one white-tail,
one black-tail, and one antelope; yet he can't be admitted. My idea of the
old requirement was not that anybody who came up to it should be eligible
for membership, but merely that it should be a prerequisite, and that among
those who possessed it we should choose our members as we desired. I know
a number of men who would strengthen and help the club if admitted to it,
and I don't see how their admission could possibly do harm. Faithfully yours
920 • TO FRANCIS CRXJGER MOORE Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, February 5, 1898
My dear Sir: l Many thanks for your letter. I must say, however, that of all
the nations of Europe it seems to me Germany is by far the most hostile to
1 John Brown Gordon, illustrious Confederate soldier, senator from Georgia, 1873-
1880, 1891-1897. Gordon's presumed connection with Collis P. Huntingdon and his
alleged bargain with his long-time political associates, Joseph E. Brown and Alfred
H. Colquitt, which led to his resignation from the Senate, clouded his reputation.
1 Francis Cruger Moore, fire insurance underwriter in New York.
768
us. With Russia I don't believe we are in any danger of coming into hostile
contact; but with Germany, under the Kaiser, we may at any time have
trouble if she seeks to acquire territory in South America.
Of course treat this letter as entirely confidential. Very truly yours
P.S. For over a century France has been no more friendly to us than
England. Under Napoleon she was quite as unfriendly as England was under
Pitt, and during our Civil War, though England behaved badly, France be-
haved worse. When England goes wrong, as was the case in the Venezuelan
incident, I should favor this nation taking the most emphatic attitude against
her, but I should be heartily against attacking her when she did right; and
still less would I submit to anything from Germany, France or Russia which
was aimed at the interests of this country.
921 • TO THOMAS R. wooDROw Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, February 7, 1898
My dear Sir: I feel very strongly that every college man should enter poli-
tics. I don't mean by this that he should strive for political position, for I
don't think it wise for a man to try to make politics his sole career unless he
possesses ample means, in which case I should strongly advocate his going
into public life, staying in as long as he conscientiously can, and going out
with cheerful philosophy whenever he finds he cannot consistently with his
own self-respect stay in — always remembering, however, that he must not
mistake mortified vanity, or the pet projects either of himself or of a small
clique of friends who are unused to politics, for the demands of self-respect.
Other college men should, of course, work either in the primaries or inde-
pendently and with both disinterestedness and common sense for decent
politics.
I venture to refer you to my article on the college man in politics in the
little book called American Ideals, which I have just published, for my fur-
ther views in the matter. Yours truly
922 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG National Archives
Washington, February 8, 1898
Sir: I respectfully call your attention to the reports of the Naval Attach6s
on the system of Elswick submerged torpedo tubes for battleships. Every-
where abroad the lighter type of battleship is being built with a submerged
tube, it being considered very dangerous to use the above-water tube.
Whether or not this danger is exaggerated, the fact remains that it does
undoubtedly exist, and that the feeling about it is so intense that many naval
officers say they would rather have the torpedo in the hold of the vessel
than in the above-water tubes when going into action.
At the battle of Yalu the Chinese are reputed to have fired off their
torpedoes long beyond the utmost possible range at which they would be
769
effective, because they did not dare to expose themselves to the danger of
possible explosion from the hail of the rapid-fire guns on the Japanese cruis-
ers. There are minor points of advantage in connection with the submerged
torpedo tube which it is not now necessary to consider.
All of our battleships built and building are fitted with, or are planned
for, above-water tubes. It is too late to change these tubes on the Kearsarge
and Kentucky, I fear, but it seems to me that every effort should be made,
even at the cost of a considerable increase of expense and re-arrangement of
internal plans, to fit out the Alabama, Illinois and Wisconsin with these sub-
merged tubes. Undoubtedly there will be some complaint in Congress and
in the public press about the increase of cost; but the complaints will be
unjust and if we do not put in submerged tubes there will be a much louder
and more just complaint later that we have failed to build ships as perfect as
we should. These vessels should be as good as any of their type abroad. Very
respectfzilly
923 • TO ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON Roosevelt
Washington, February 8, 1898
My dear Johnson:* No; that would be incorrect. The Merrimac was an
ironclad just exactly as much as the Huascar was. At present some armor-
clads are sheathed in wood, but that doesn't prevent their being armorclads.
Others have a cellulose, or else a fireproofed wood backing; but they are
armorclads just the same. To call the Merrimac anything but an ironclad is
all wrong. Moreover, the fight at Lissa2 was a fight between ironclads. On
each side wooden vessels were engaged, but the chief fighting was between
the Austrian ironclads and the Italian ironclads. Tegethoffs own flagship, an
ironclad, sunk, by ramming, the even more powerful ironclad Re d'ltalia —
one of the two most formidable Italian vessels. The fact is that the author of
your article, instead of being content to write of an interesting, dramatic and
important engagement between ironclads, has tried to portray it as what it
was not. It was not unique in the sense in which he uses the term, and I do
not think that the Century ought to adopt as its own view the statement
that it was unique.
By the way, even if you discarded the Merrimac you would have to take
into account the fight in which the ironclad ram Atlanta was captured by
the two monitors under Rodgers, not to speak of Farragut's fight in which
the ironclad Tennessee fought the monitors as well as the wooden ships.
1 Robert Underwood Johnson, associate editor of the Century Magazine.
"Near Lissa, an island in the Adriatic, the Austrians under Admiral Tegethoff de-
feated the Italians under Admiral Persano in 1866. The battle, as the first fleet
engagement between steam ironclads, was the subject of much interest. The sinking
of the Re tfltalia by the Ferdinand Max made a profound impression upon more
conservative naval thinkers who believed the ram would become increasingly impor-
tant as a naval weapon.
770
As I say, all these fights are well known. Wilson's book3 discusses them
all, and gives the fights of the Huascar in full, so far as the practical features
and the lessons to be drawn from them are concerned. Your correspondent
adds some new details, but nothing that affects any material point. He evi-
dently knows nothing about ironclads, and is still under the curious illusion
that at Lissa the Austrian wooden ships were the chief opponents of the
Italian ironclads — a statement that has gained wide currency among un-
informed people; whereas the facts really are that all the chief fighting
was done between the ironclads of the two squadrons.
I am sorry that I can't adopt the point of view of the author of the
article as to the uniqueness of the Huascar*s fight. The reason is that that
point of view is erroneous, and I could not add such a sentence as you sug-
gest without doing violence to the facts. The Merrimac was an ironclad
precisely in the sense that the South American vessels were, and the fact that
the iron was put on wood has no more to do with the question than has the
fact that nowadays the complete iron belt which the old ships used has been
abandoned for a system of partial armament which leaves the ends of the
vessel and some of the superstructure exposed. You had better leave my
article as it is, to serve as the needed corrective to the other. Sincerely yours
924 • TO FRANCIS CRUGER MOORE RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, February 9, 1898
My dear Mr. Moore: I agree with you so heartily on almost all questions of
real importance, whether affecting our foreign policy or anything else, that
I hate to disagree with you, and I don't think that fundamentally I do. I
quite agree with you that naturally our alliance should be with a republic,
and I entirely agree with you that there cannot be a fundamental agreement
between us of America and the tory aristocracy of Great Britain. With Eng-
lishmen of the sort who stood by us during our Civil War — that is, with
Englishmen like Lord Spenser, John Bright, and the Lancashire cotton spin-
ners of your correspondent — I could have on most questions a hearty sym-
pathy. The only reason I asked you to treat my letters as confidential is that
I have of course no right to publish opinions in which my chiefs of the
administration very possibly do not share.
I should myself like to shape our foreign policy with the purpose ulti-
mately of driving off this continent every European power. I would begin
with. Spain, and in the end would take all other European nations, including
England. It is even more important to prevent any new nation from getting
a foothold. Germany as a republic would very possibly be a friendly nation,
but under the present despotism she is much more bitterly and outspokenly
8 Herbert Wrigley Wilson, Ironclads in- Action; a Sketch of Naval Warfare from
285$ to 189; (Boston, 1896).
771
hostile to us than is England; and even as a republic there is of course always
the possibility of repeating what the French republic did a century ago,
when she forced us to administer a sound drubbing to her, taking her frig-
ates and sloops in pitched battle, and smashing her West Indian privateers.
What I want to see our people avoid is the attitude taken by the great
bulk of Americans at the beginning of this century, and the end of the last,
when the mass of the Jeffersonians put the interests of France above the
interest and honor of America, and the mass of the Federalists did the same
thing in England. I am not hostile to any European power in the abstract. I
am simply an American first and last, and therefore hostile to any power
which wrongs us. If Germany wronged us I would fight Germany; if Eng-
land, I would fight England.
I should like very much to have a chance of meeting you and talking all
this over at length sometime. Faithfully yours
925 • TO CHARLES ARTHUR MOORE RoOSCVelt MsS.
Washington, February 14, 1898
My dear Moore: x I do not believe in any entangling alliance, but neither do
I believe in any entangling antipathies. Russia, and Russia alone, of European
powers, has been uniformly friendly to us in the past. I have no question
that this friendliness came almost solely from self-interest, but with that I
need not deal. For a century past France has been generally more hostile to
us than England, in spite of the War of 1812. In 1798 we actually came to
blows with her, and during the Civil War she behaved much worse than
England did, badly though England behaved also. As for Germany, I think
she of all powers is the one with which we are most apt to have friction.
This is not to advocate the Chamber of Commerce's stand, for that body
is undoubtedly pro-English in sympathy; but I feel most we should above
all things beware of letting a foolish hatred of England blind us to our own
honor and interest. Nothing is worse for a country than to shape its policy
with the desire of either gratifying or irritating another country, the latter
quite as much as the former. Germany, and not England, is the power with
whom we are most apt to have trouble over the Monroe Doctrine. If our
trade relations with China are valuable, I should most unquestionably side
with or against any European power out there purely with regard to our
own interests.
I spoke, as I told you I would, very warmly to the President about Mr.
Carll. Very sincerely yours
1 Charles Arthur Moore, member of a railway supply firm, New York man of
affairs, president of the American Protective Tariff League, 1900-1910.
772
926 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG RoOSCVelt Mtt.
Washington, February 16, 1898
Sir: In view of the accident to the Maine}- 1 venture respectfully, but most
urgently, to advise that the monitors, instead of being laid up, be put in
commission forthwith. If we had gone to war with Spain a year ago we
should have had seven armored ships against three; and there would be no
chance of any serious loss to the American Navy. Month by month the
Spanish Navy has been put into a better condition to meet us. A week ago it
would have been seven seagoing armored ships against seven. Today it
would be six against seven. When the Numancia is ready, as she soon will
be, it will be six against eight. By adding the three monitors and the Ram
Katahdin we can make it ten to eight. We have lost in peace one of our
battleships, a loss which I do not believe we would have encountered in war.
I would not intrude on you with any suggestion or advice did I not
feel, sir, the greatest regard and respect for you personally, no less than a
desire to safeguard the honor of the Navy. It may be impossible to ever
settle definitely whether or not the Maine was destroyed through some
treachery upon the part of the Spaniards. The coincidence of her destruc-
tion with her being anchored off Havana by an accident such as has never
before happened, is unpleasant enough to seriously increase the many exist-
ing difficulties between ourselves and Spain. It is of course not my province
to in any way touch on the foreign policy of this country; but the Navy
Department represents the arm of the government which will have to carry
out any policy upon which the administration may finally determine, and
as events of which we have not the slightest control may, at any moment,
force the administration's hand, it seems to me, sir, that it would be well to
take all possible precautions. If ever some such incident as the de Lome
affair, or this destruction of the Maine, war should suddenly arise, the Navy
Department would have to bear the full brunt of the displeasure of Congress
and the country if it were not ready. It would in all probability take two
or three weeks to get ready vessels laid up in reserve, and these two or three
weeks would represent the golden time for striking a paralyzing blow at the
outset of the war.
I would also suggest that the Merritt Wrecking Company, or else some
other as good, be directed at once to make preparations to get the Maine up.
I note Captain Sigsbee and Consul General Lee2 advise against a warship
going to Havana at present. It seems to me they would not thus advise unless
they felt that there was at least grave suspicion as to the cause of the dis-
aster. In any event I hope that no battleship will be again sent there. In point
* The Maine blew up February 15, 1898.
"Fitzhugh Lee, nephew and biographer of Robert E. Lee, major general in the Con-
federate Army, Democratic Governor of Virginia, 1886-1890; United States Consul
General at Havana, 1896-1898; later brigadier general during the war with Spain.
773
of force it is either too great or too small. The moral effect is gained as much
by the presence of any cruiser flying the American flag, a cruiser such as
the Marblehead, for instance. If there is need for a battleship at all there will
be need for every battleship we possess; and the loss of a cruiser is small
compared to the loss of a battleship.
I venture again to point out how these events emphasize the need that
we should have an ample Navy. Secretary Tracy, in his address at Boston
the other day, was able to show that he had no responsibility for our present
inadequate Navy; that he had given advice which, if followed by Congress,
would have ^insured us» at the present moment, a Navy which would have
forbid any danger of trouble with either Spain or Japan. The question of
economy is very important; but it is wholly secondary when compared with
the question of national honor and national defense. An unsuccessful war
would cost many times over more than the cost of the most extravagant ap-
propriations that could be imagined. Congress may, or may not, adopt your
recommendations, if you recommend, in view of what has happened, the
increase of the Navy to the size which we should have, but at any rate
the skirts of the Department will then be cleared; and it is certain that until
the Department takes the lead, Congress will not only refuse to grant ships,
but will hold itself justified in its refusal. For a year and a half now we have
been explaining to Spain that we might and very probably would, in certain
contingencies interfere in Cuba. We have therefore been giving her ample
notice, of which she has taken advantage to get ready all the fleet she could,
until the margin of difference between our force and hers has become so
small that by the sinking of the Maine it has been turned in her favor so far
as the units represented by the seagoing armorclads on the Atlantic are
concerned. It is of course true that the Department will be blamed for
extravagance if it recommends that the Navy be increased, as it should be
increased, and as the interests of the nation demand; but this blame will be
baseless, and we can well afford to stand it, whereas it may be held against
us for all time to come, not merely by the men of today, but by those who
read history in the future, if we fail to point out what the naval needs of the
nation are, and how they should be met. Very respectfully
927 -TO BENJAMIN HARRISON DIBLEE Roosevelt
Washington, February 16, 1898
Dear Brother Diblee: If you go to St. Paul's School, don't forget to talk
with my small nephew, Theodore Douglas Robinson. He goes to Harvard
two years from next fall, and bids fair to be a good athlete, and especially
a good football player. Because of his fondness for athletic pursuits it seemed
likely that he might go to Yale, but he is very fond of me, and is going to
Harvard.
Tell the brethern how much I enjoyed my hour at the Club when I was
774
last out there. I took Brother-honorary Romans for a slashing walk across
country last Sunday, which gave him cramps in his legs afterwards. I told
him that he shan't become a mere Sybarite while I am around, if by judicious
worrying I can prevent it. Sincerely yours
P.S. Being a Jingo, as I am writing confidentially from one Pore man to
another, I will say, to relieve my feelings, that I would give anything if
President McKinley would order the fleet to Havana tomorrow. This Cuban
business ought to stop. The Maine was sunk by an act of dirty treachery on
the part of the Spaniards 7 believe; though we shall never find out definitely,
and officially it will go down as an accident.
928 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG National Archives
Washington, February 18, 1898
Sir: I herewith enclose you two papers just received through the Chief of
the Bureau of Intelligence. The first contains a picture of a division of Ger-
man torpedo boats in a heavy seaway, this picture being taken from a Ger-
man illustrated paper of repute, and representing the conditions under which,
last fall, one of the German torpedo boats was lost. It sets forth in graphic
form the unsuitability of torpedo boats to do duty in rough weather; an
unsuitability which must always be taken into account, even on the occa-
sions when it is necessary to disregard it. The other paper is a report of a
committee of investigation on behalf of the French Admiralty, undertaken
to inquire into the reason for the multitude of casualties in the Mediter-
ranean torpedo boat squadron. It appears that there were in the French
Mediterranean squadron 14 torpedo boats in reserve and 37 in commission.
Of these 37 but 9 were available for immediate defense, the remaining 28
being unavailable because of more or less important repairs which it was
necessary to make to them on account of the casualties they had encoun-
tered while practicing. On the question as to where the responsibility for
the accidents should be charged, the admiral of the station reported that the
fault was to be sought in the instruments themselves, and not in those who
handled them; and in dwelling on the unexpected mishaps befalling torpedo
boats which were apparently in the best condition, he added:
"There is no sure guaranty that any torpedo boat is in good condition.
You might try all the torpedo boats today, and out of 20 that have behaved
well, there will perhaps be 10 tomorrow that will fail, if only by reason of
the fatigue they have undergone in the trial. The torpedo boat is a delicate
instrument, imperfectly understood, of insufficient resistance."
In continuation he points out the insufficiency of the personnel, its want
of practice, and the necessity of more drilling, "even if it should become
necessary to sacrifice for that purpose a few torpedo boats, using them for
the drill."
The experiences thus set forth in reference to the German and French
775
torpedo boats are curiously paralleled by our own at the present time. Dur-
ing the last six months we have had for the first time a torpedo-boat flotilla,
and we have for the first time thoroughly tested the boats by long voyages
and individual and squadron drills, under all conditions of weather, off every
kind of coast. The two things brought out most clearly by these tests are,
first, the very great benefit accruing from the actual handling of the boats;
and second, the extreme fragility of the boats. Nothing but practice will
teach a man how to get the best work out of a torpedo boat. In the event of
trouble, our torpedo-boat flotilla will be infinitely more efficient because the
boats have been tried in every way during the last six months, for the officers
and men aboard them now know their own duties no less than the capacities
and limitations of their craft. On the other hand, it is no less evident that the
margin of safety in these boats is exceedingly small. In the effort to attain
the maximum of speed at the sacrifice of everything else, the structure has
been made so delicate that accidents continually occur if the boats are driven
hard, or if they get into a heavy seaway; while the scantling is so light that
to scrape a dock or touch a shoal may mean rather serious temporary injury.
I would suggest that the Department very seriously consider whether in
building boats hereafter it would not be well to sacrifice two or three knots
of speed in each type for the sake of getting heavier scantling, and machin-
ery less apt to get out of order. In considering this subject it would be neces-
sary, not only to get the carefully prepared opinion of the Bureau of Con-
struction, but furthermore, the opinion of Lieutenant Commander Kimball,
and of all of our officers who have had charge of torpedo boats in the past;
and as careful a study as possible should be made of the conditions of
torpedo-boat service in foreign navies. A week ago inquiries were made
through the Intelligence Office of our naval attaches abroad on this very
point, with special reference to the hangers and propeller struts which have
given such trouble on the recent cruise.
The reduction of speed would of course be a disadvantage; but every
warship, big or small, is of course nothing but a compromise, speed, safety,
gun-power, protection, and coal endurance being each and every one sacri-
ficed to a greater or less extent in order that any of the others may be devel-
oped at all. A torpedo boat must be fast, for it must be able under favorable
conditions to deal its blow and then escape, if escape be possible. Only about „
a minute will elapse between the time when a torpedo boat becomes visible
under the searchlight, and the time when it discharges its torpedoes; for of
course a torpedo boat can work only by surprise. Even a comparatively
slow torpedo boat, one of twenty-two or twenty-three knots' speed, could
escape from a fast cruiser if it happened to be caught out in smooth water;
and no torpedo boat could escape from any cruiser in a heavy seaway, for
even a very fast torpedo boat, under such circumstances, would have its
speed knocked down immediately. In cruising about looking for a hostile
squadron a torpedo boat would rarely go at full speed; therefore the speed
need only be considered as of vital consequence during the minute or there-
abouts that it would be exposed to fire before dealing its own blow. Of
course every second gained at this time is important, and the sacrifice of
speed does represent a real sacrifice. Nevertheless, a sacrifice of three knots'
speed in a 3o-knot boat would probably not mean more than about six sec-
onds additional exposure. In my opinion it is not worth while trying to
economize on these six seconds at the cost of immensely increasing the
fragility of the boat. I agree with the opinion, to which, as I understand it,
the Bureau of Construction, the Bureau of Ordnance, and the ofiicer-in-chief
of the torpedo flotilla, have come, that we should have substantially two
types of torpedo boats, one of about 200 tons and the other a so-called
destroyer of about 400 tons. If we had a very large number of torpedo boats,
say two or three hundred, it might pay to reduce the size to 100 tons, and
use them purely in the neighborhood of their own harbors; but unless we
have such a number they should be large enough to enable us to send them
to and fro along the coast.
Experience with the torpedo boat, in foreign navies no less than in our
own, shows that while under favorable circumstances it is undoubtedly a
most terrible engine of war, yet that these favorable circumstances may
very rarely occur. At present our Navy is particularly short in torpedo
boats, and we need to have this arm of the service developed relatively to
the others; but nothing could be more foolish than the talk of substituting
torpedo boats for battleships and cruisers. Except when working at night,
or under conditions which favor a surprise, the torpedo boat is absolutely
helpless against any seagoing ship, armed with rapid-fire guns, whether the
ship be large or small; and under no circumstances is it fit to do rough work
at sea, or to perform any of the duties taken as a matter of course by regular
seagoing craft. Torpedo boats should never be used as despatch boats except
under unusual conditions. They are fit to make night raids on an enemy's
squadron near the coast when the conditions are favorable, or under excep-
tional circumstances to take part in the closing scene (but only the closing
scene) of a great battle; and they are fit for little else. Of course this means
that they are fit for a function of enormous importance, but it must not be
supposed that such a function is all that it is necessary to have a modern navy
perform.
We should have in our Navy at least one hundred torpedo boats. Some
of these should be destroyers of large size, probably on the lines of the one
now building at Wilmington, Delaware. Such destroyers will of course be
seaworthy, as smaller boats cannot be; though the accidents to some of the
English destroyers must not be forgotten, for apparently at least half of
them are constantly under repairs. The remaining boats would be the tor-
pedo boats proper. To both classes alike the remarks I have made above will
apply.
In conclusion I should like to call your attention to a remark of Admiral
777
Humann, the French chief of the general staff, in speaking of the way in
which a portion of the press exaggerated and garbled the report of any dis-
aster to the navy, being content to do any damage either to the good name
of their country and of its naval service, or to its material interest, if such
sensationalism were to their own advantage:
"In foreign countries the Press conceals everything, the conspiracy of
silence is complete. In France, on the contrary, every time that an accident
happens, it is not only made public, but exaggerated."
The good admiral must have been speaking only of European countries,
or else he possesses a touching innocence concerning the methods of some
of our own apostles of the "faith of the loose tongue," to quote from
Carlyle.
It is possible that we may be able to reduce the extreme fragility of
torpedo boats; nevertheless they will always remain as fragile as they are
formidable. Every war vessel of the highest efficiency, from a battleship
down, is itself a huge bit of delicate mechanism, and its efficiency is largely
conditioned upon features of its structure which are liable at any time to
suffer serious accident. There is always risk of damage to such a bit of
mechanism, and the risk must be accepted as part of the price paid for the
immense increase of efficiency in the weapon itself. In order to make a rapid-
fire high-power piece of artillery we have to use machinery which is ex-
ceedingly liable to get out of order, whereas an old cast-iron gun could
hardly be damaged unless it blew up; and yet the old-style gun, when com-
pared to the new, is almost as inefficient a weapon as a catapult or arbalast.
So an old-style sailing frigate was practically safe from any damage but
shipwreck. A modern battleship, with its vast load of armor and armament,
and a multitude of engines and of every kind of machinery aboard it, is
incomparably more delicate; and yet such a battleship could, without dam-
age to itself, sweep out of existence all the fleets of all the nations in the
world, as they were at the time of Trafalgar. A great nation must have a
great navy; and this means that it must accept without undue hysterical
excitement the fact that accidents will from time to time befall the ships of
its navy. If because of these accidents it stops work, whether on dry docks,
battleships or torpedo boats, it will prove that it is not a great nation and
that it is not entitled to rank as such in the world. Even in the old days of
sailing ships the British, toward the close of the gigantic Napoleonic wars,
suffered much heavier losses annually by shipwreck and the disasters due to
existence on the sea, than by the guns of the foe. In recent times the mel-
ancholy list of accidents in every foreign navy is remembered by all who
take interest in the service. Until the recent disaster to the Maine, our own
new navy had been extraordinarily free from such accidents. Nevertheless
occasional disasters of great severity, and continual accidents of minor im-
portance, are sure to occur; and certain people, and especially certain news-
papers, will always tend to draw false lessons from them if they are impor-
tant, and enormously to exaggerate them if they are unimportant. When the
778
Indiana was dry-docked last summer one of her plates buckled a little. It was
a kind of incident that occurs continually in docking heavy battleships, and
in no foreign navy would it have so much as attracted any attention. Yet
there were certain newspapers not ashamed to seize and distort the incident
and attempt to show that it implied the structural worthlessness of the
Indiana; which has been cruising in every weather ever since, and acting
unusually well, her efficiency not having suffered the slightest impairment.
So, when any of the big guns show signs of the wear and tear which
limit the life of all modern guns used with modern powder and projectiles,
the same newspapers seek to show that the artillery is worthless. When the
tubes of a boiler blow out — an accident that happens scores .of times under
the conditions of rough sea service — and the vessel's speed is for a few
hours retarded in consequence, the incident furnishes the text for another
attack upon the Navy. I could enumerate such examples ad infinitum during
the last year alone. Until the terrible disaster to the Maine, not one single
accident took place with any of our new ships which deserved more than
passing attention. None of them reflected discredit upon the men who man-
aged, or the men who had built, armored, and armed the ships; yet scores of
times the sensational press, and those men who seek to make capital by dis-
crediting their country, or who belong to the class who in war would make
a craven peace the instant any check occurred, have seized upon some ficti-
tious account of an ordinary accident, of a kind inevitable in managing
modern warships in actual service, and have used it as a text to show, either
that our Navy was inefficient, or that the work done in building it had
been so poor that we should stop forthwith.
If Great Britain had stopped maneuvering her squadrons after the sinking
of the Captain, the Vanguard or the Victoria; if Germany had abandoned
any effort to upbuild her navy after the sinking of the Kurf first; if the Rus-
sians had ceased to build ships when the Qangozit sank; if the French had
given up torpedo boats when they found that two-thirds of those in com-
mission in the Mediterranean were disabled by accidents; then each and all
of these nations would have shown that they were unfit any longer to stand
as great powers, that they lacked the nerve to face the ordinary punishment
which must be encountered by every nation in traveling the road to great-
ness.
Exactly the same judgment will be deservedly passed upon us if for
these reasons, or for any other reasons, we refuse to go on with the upbuild-
ing of our navy, whether our refusal take the form of stopping work on dry
docks, battleships or torpedo boats. Very respectfully
929 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG Roosevelt M.SS.
Washington, February 19, 1898
My dear Mr. Secretary: In reference to our conversation of yesterday, and
to a brief conversation which I had with Judge Day this morning before
779
you came, let me again earnestly urge that you advise the President against
our conducting any examination in conjunction with the Spaniards as to
the Maine's disaster. I myself doubt whether it will be possible to tell defi-
nitely how the disaster occurred by an investigation; still it may be possible,
and it may be that we could do it as well in conjunction with the Spaniards
as alone. But I am sure we never could convince the people-at-large of this
fact. There is of course a very large body of public opinion to the effect
that we some time ago reached the limit of forebearance in our conduct
toward the Spaniards, and this public opinion is already very restless, and
might easily be pursuaded to turn hostile to the Administration. The out-
rageous attacks of Senators Allen1 and Mason2 yesterday, which were so well
answered by Lodge and Wolcott, show that even in our own party, as well
as among our foes, there is already a disposition to look with suspicion upon
our attitude about Cuba. I feel that for our own sakes the administration
should scrupulously refrain from doing anything which would give a color
of right to our critics, and they would undoubtedly seize upon a joint inves-
tigation as an excuse for denouncing us, and for asserting that we were afraid
to find out the exact facts. Of course such an accusation would be absurd;
but it might be damaging nevertheless; and it would at present have weight
with a great many decent people who would not normally pay any heed to
it, but who think that we should intervene on behalf of Cuba.
There is another subject of which I spoke to you yesterday, and about
which I venture to remind you. This is in reference to additional warships.
I was informed that both Speaker Reed and Senator Hale had stated that we
must cease building any more battleships, in view of the disaster to the
Maine. I cannot believe that the statement is true, for of course such an atti-
tude, if supported by the people, would mean that we had reached the last
pitch of national cowardice and baseness. Nevertheless, while I cannot be-
lieve that any of our own party leaders would adopt such an attitude, there
is no question that it is one which appeals to people who are timid and
foolish; and furthermore, it will appeal even to persons who are neither
timid or foolish, but who are ignorant of the subject, and who believe that
we should have more monitors and torpedo boats instead of battleships. I
shall not repeat what I said in my letter of yesterday about torpedo boats
and battleships; but I earnestly wish you could see your way clear now,
without waiting a day, to send in a special message, stating that in view of
the disaster to the Maine (and perhaps in view of the possible needs of this
country) instead of recommending one battleship, you ask that two, or
better still, four battleships be authorized immediately by Congress. If such
action were taken promptly I believe it would not only be of great service
to the country, but of great service to the administration; for I believe it
1 William Vincent Allen, Populist senator from Nebraska, 1893-1901.
* William Ernest Mason, Republican congressman from Illinois, 1887-1891; senator,
1897-1903, 1917-1921.
780
would be an admirable thing politically, and would do much to set at ease
many good men who have felt that our policy in reference to the Navy,
and on foreign affairs, was not strong enough. If only Congress could be
persuaded to act upon such a suggestion at once, and authorize the battle-
ships immediately, it would do more for the national tone than could be done
in any other way. Very respectfully
930 • TO J. EDWARD MYERS R.M.A.
Washington, February 21, 1898
My dear Sir: It is a little difficult to answer your letter with proper modera-
tion. I am not ashamed of the Navy, but I am heartily ashamed that there
are any Americans who should feel as you do; and I am quite unwilling to
think that any considerable portion of them in your city or elsewhere so
believe. If you had taken the trouble to read the accounts of the disaster,
you would have known that the reason the crew suffered compared to the
officers, was because the explosion occurred under them and in the forward
part of the ship, and not in the after-part of the ship, where the officers were.
Captain Sigsbee was the last man to leave the ship. I am happy to say that
this is the first suggestion that has been made that this fact reflected upon
the officers, because the making of such a suggestion reflects not in the least
upon the officers, but upon the man who makes it. Recently, on one of the
torpedo boats, one of the two officers perished in a gale, and not a single
member of the 35 enlisted men; but no man with a particle of manliness in
his nature would state that this reflected upon the enlisted men.
As for what you say about carelessness being shown by our officers, and
inability to protect the vessel, you had better wait until die official inquiry
is made. It will be full and ample. You further ask whether, in view of this
disaster, it would not be well to have no Navy. This shows on your part
precisely the spirit shown by those men who, after the battle of Bull Run,
desired to abandon the war and allow the Rebellion to succeed. When men
get frightened at the loss of a single ship, and wish to seize this as an excuse
for abandoning the effort to build a navy (and this no matter what may be
the reason for the disaster) they show that they belong to that class which
would abandon war at the first check, from sheer lack of courage, resolution,
and farsightedness.
I have purposely written this letter in strong terms, for they were called
for by yours. Yours truly
931 -TO WILLIAM SHEFFIELD COWLES RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, February 23, 1898
Dear Will: I was very glad to get your letter from Havana. We have been
thinking of you very much the last two or three days. It is such a sad affair
781
that I hardly know what to say about it. I don't have much hope that we
shall ever get at the truth. If there has been any treachery it will be very
hard to show it.
Give Sigsbee and Wainwright my warmest regards. I am glad, if the
accident had to occur at all, that it should occur to a ship with a captain and
an executive officer whose names are guarantees that everything right was
done. I put in my oar with great emphasis as to the joint inquiry, and I
think I was largely instrumental in preventing it being done.
Alice is on with Anna, as you doubtless know. Edith continues about the
same. I think perhaps she is a little better, but her progress is very, very slow.
Always yours
932 • TO WILLIAM PETERFIELD TRENT RoOSCVelt MsS.
Washington, February 23, 1898
My dear Mr. Trent: As soon as you find out how much time you will have
in Washington on Sunday the 6th let me know. I can almost surely arrange
to see you. Indeed I must, for I do want to have a talk with you so very
much.
I am glad you did not go to Cleveland. I feel just as you do; that is, when
you receive a thoroughly advantageous offer, both in money and in posi-
tion, you are bound, in justice to yourself and family, to accept it; but
where there is a doubt, then give the benefit of it to Sewanee. You speak to
the southern young men of the best type in a manner, and with a weight,
belonging to no one else of the South; and probably you yourself will never
know exactly how much you have done.
You touch on one of what I believe to be the most serious obstacles in
the way of doing good literary work in the present generation, when you
speak of the press and bustle of city life, and especially of the tendency to
write "timely" articles, and the like. It is not necessary to be a mere recluse
in order to do good work as a poet, a novelist, or even as a historian or a
scholar; but it is absolutely necessary to be able to have the bulk of one's
time to one's self, so that it can be spent on the particular study needed.
Nowadays it is rather difficult to get such leisure, and indeed it can be gotten
only by a man of some means and of great determination of character, if
he has any widespread popularity. Prof. Lounsbury can work as a scholar
should, very largely because his countrymen, as a whole, do not in the least
appreciate him and his work; but if a man becomes at all popular the condi-
tions of modern life render it the easiest thing in the world for thoughtless
people to intrude upon his time, and for the man himself to fall into tempta-
tions which will interfere with his work. Even more important and more
harmful is the fact that the enormous increase in the half-educated reading
public, and -in the half-educated caterers to this reading public, tends to
divert every man capable of doing good work from that good work; because
as my own experience tends to show, one's literary work is very apt to be
782
remunerated in inverse proportion to its value. The minute that a man like
Moses Coit Tyler writes a serious work on our early literature, a work which
attracts attention and gives him a name, he receives all kinds of requests to
do second-rate work, and unless he is very well-to-do, and very much accus-
tomed to saying No, and to treating temporary popularity with indifference,
it is exceedingly difficult for him not to yield.
I don't suppose I could ever have made the Winning of the West a big
historical book, and a good deal of my active life has helped me in making
it even what it is; but I know that if I had had more leisure I could have
done much better with it; and now I have to be adamantine in refusing
innumerable requests to write a manual on western history for one publisher,
a manual on naval wars for another, a little book on the cowboy for a third,
some articles on our navy for a newspaper syndicate, some sketches of New
York police life for the magazines, etc., etc., etc. There is a plausible reason
for writing each one, but if I should go into any of them while I am at work
as I am in the Navy Department, it would mean the absolute surrender of
the purpose of going on with The Winning of the West, and that I am not
willing to do if it can be avoided.
There! You see what you have brought on yourself by writing me as
you did. My boy Ted is much better. Mrs. Roosevelt, however, improves so
very slowly that I am still exceedingly anxious about her.
Give my warm regards to Mrs. Trent. Faithfully yours
933 'TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MSS.°
Washington, February 23, 1898
Darling Bye, Do you, or not, wish the piano & bicycle? If so I'll send on the
metronome with them.
Alice is such a good letter writer! Her letters are really interesting and
amusing. Evidently you are doing her a world of good and giving her ex-
actly what she needed. I quite agree with what you say about her; I am sure
she really does love Edith and the children and me; it was only that running
riot with the boys and girls here had for the moment driven everything else
out of her head.
Edith's recovery is very slow; I am still extremely anxious about her.
Ted shows a marked improvement.
We are all on edge waiting to hear definitely about the Maine. Love to
Alice. Yours ever
934 • TO WILLIAM RUFUS DAY Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, February 24, 1898
My dear Judge Day: Of course it is a great pleasure to me to answer any
inquiry of yours. The alleged interview to which you refer is, I presume,
the one in the New York Journal. By the way, it did not purport to be an
783
interview with me, but merely an expression of what the reporter believed
to be my thoughts. It was called to my attention the same day by representa-
tives of the Evening Sun, the Commercial Advertiser and the New York
World, to each of whom I stated that the alleged interview, or whatever it
was, was an absolute fake; that I had not seen or spoken to any Journal
reporter, and had not expressed to any newspaper correspondent, or in any
way, directly or indirectly, any public opinion as to the cause of the acci-
dent; and I may add that I had not expressed such private opinion, for the
excellent reason that I had not formed any. I may mention that I had shown
the article to the Secretary, and asked him if it was necessary to disavow it,
and he said not; but when the different newspaper representatives I have
mentioned came to me for statements about it, I told them all that it was a
fake, as I have above stated. Very sincerely yours
935 • TO C. WHITNEY TILLINGHAST, SECOND RoOSevelt
Washington, February 25, 1898
My dear General Tillinghast: You must treat this letter as strictly confiden-
tial. I have nothing official on which to go, but it does seem to me that the
conditions are sufficiently threatening to warrant your beginning to look
at your resources, and to enter into correspondence with the War Depart-
ment as to what men they would expect from you, whether you should send
regiments of the National Guard or new regiments of volunteers, etc., etc.
Pray remember that in some shape I want to go. I was three years in the
National Guard, and have had a good deal of experience in handling men,
and I can guarantee that I will do my part well; but of course I should be
busy with my work here up to the very last moment and could not take an
active part in raising a regiment. I think that the service I would be render-
ing to the government in this position at the time ought to be considered as
an offset to this.
You can of course show this to the Governor. Very sincerely yours
936 • TO GEORGE DEWEY Printed1
Cablegram Washington, February 25, 1898
Dewey, Hong Kong: Order the squadron, except the Monocacy, to Hong
Kong. Keep full of coal. In the event of declaration of war Spain, your duty
will be to see that the Spanish squadron does not leave the Asiatic coast, and
1This dispatch, cited in full in Roosevelt's Autobiography, Nat. Ed. XX, 220,
greatly shocked John D. Long who confided to his diary that Roosevelt "has gone
at things like a bull in a china shop." Many authors since Long have treated die
dispatch as the impulsive act of a subordinate who took advantage of a rare occasion
when his chief was out of the office for an afternoon. The message was sent, in fact,
after several weeks of reflection and consultation with Lodge. It did not represent
very accurately the attitude of Roosevelt's superior, Mr. Long, but it did not exceed
the limits of reasonable military precaution.
784
then offensive operations in Philippine Islands. Keep Olympia until further
orders.
937 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES RoOSevelt
Washington, February 25, 1898
Darling Bye: I enclose the bank book, and also $20. The last was in the form
of bills, not in a check. Nothing has come from the Boston Store. I will
have the remaining schoolbooks looked up and sent. I thought they had gone.
Edith had more fever yesterday, and though she went down again last
night she seems so weak that I have concluded to get Dr. Osier, the great
Baltimore expert, in for a consultation.
Will wrote me a characteristic and very welcome note from Havana,
chiefly occupied, of course, with what Sigsbee and Wainwright, who had
just come aboard, said. No one can tell as yet what the cause of tie disaster
was. Even if it were due to Spanish treachery it might be impossible ever
to find it out. You need not be uneasy about Will, or about any of our
men down in Havana. I am a good deal more nervous about the Viscaya
in New York. I have not felt the loss of the Maine nearly as much as I
would if I had not had so much to worry over in my own home.
It was very satisfactory to know exactly what Alice was doing. Give the
darling child my love. Yours ever
938 • TO CHARLES o'NEiL Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, February 28, 1898
My dear Captain O'Neil: The enclosed statement explains itself. I don't
want to bring this matter in any way officially before die Department, but,
writing to you personally, don't you think it inadvisable for Prof. Alger1
to express opinions in this way? Captain Bradford has all along believed
that Prof. Alger is absolutely in error in his views. He believes that the
explosion was not accidental. Captain Clover is inclined to the same belief.
I should certainly feel that it was not advisable for either of them to make
public any such statement, and it seems to me that it is inadvisable for
Prof. Alger to make these statements. I don't know the conditions under
which he made them; and, besides, I don't want to bother the Secretary,
or to bring on any wrangle in the Department, and I should just like to
get your views about the matter unofficially. Mr. Alger cannot possibly
know anything about the accident. All the best men in the Department agree
that, whether probable or not, it certainly is possible that the ship was
blown up by a mine which might, or might not, have been towed under
her; and when we have a court sitting to find out these facts it seems to
1 Philip Rounseville Alger, Lieutenant, later Captain, U.S.N.; professor of mathe-
matics at the Naval Academy and an ordnance expert.
785
me to the last point inadvisable for any person connected with the Navy
Department to express his opinion publicly in the matter, and especially to
give elaborate reasons for one side or the other. The fact that Mr. Alger
happens to take the Spanish side, and to imply that the explosion was prob-
ably due to some fault of the Navy, whether in the Construction Depart-
ment, or among the officers, has, of course, nothing to do with the matter.
Very truly yours
939 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES
Washington, Sunday
Darling Bye, Dr. Osier was not encouraging. He knows no more than the
others what is the matter with Ted, who however is much better. Edith
he thought critically ill, and believed the trouble was in a swelling, in the
abdomen near the hip, which has developed during the last two or three
days, and which Wood & Magruder had already been watching. He also
believed there should be an operation on it at once, as it would rapidly
grow worse. But today it is better, and Edith is better, and Wood and
Magruder, very wisely, are going to see whether an operation can not be
avoided. They are giving her most careful attention. This morning she is
stronger than for a week or two, and has been able to have me read to her.
It is a very anxious time. Our friends are more than kind.
Will's letter is very interesting. Always yours
Do'n't in any letter speak of the possible "operation"; I do'n't think it
will be necessary to have one, and to talk of it would merely make Edith
nervous.
940'TO ERNEST BRUNCKEN RoOSevelt MsS.
Washington, March i, 1898
My dear Sir: x I have just received through the courtesy of Mr. Thwaites,
your pamphlet on "How Germans Become Americans." It is so admirably
written — to use the cant of the day, it is written in so scientific a spirit
— that I must write to congratulate you upon it.
To me the problem of Americanization, which is, to a large extent, the
problem of the amalgamation and assimilation of the different race strains
in this country, is the most interesting of all problems. I myself represent
an instance of the fusion of several different race stocks, my blood being
most largely Lowland Scotch, next to that Dutch, with a strain of French
Huguenot, and of Gaelic; my ancestors having been here for the most part
for more than two centuries. My Dutch forebears kept their blood practi-
cally unmixed until the days of my grandfather, that is, for a century and
a half; and his father was the first in the line to use English as the invariable
1 Ernest Bruncken, German political exile, professional forester and author.
786
home tongue. Even in revolutionary days there was a considerable non-
English admixture of blood in our people; and as you so well point out,
even those of English blood had become something very different from the
English who stayed at home. The frontier has always had a tremendous effect
in Americanizing people. A single generation of life upon it has invariably
beaten all the frontiersmen of whatever stock into one mould, and this a
mould different from any in Europe.
There are curious differences between the different races in point of
rapidity and thoroughness of mixture. My own experience is that practically
the Scandinavians and Protestant Germans mix completely with the native
Americans as soon as English becomes their home language; they then be-
come indistinguishable from them, intermarrying freely. On the other hand
the Irish are kept apart by their religion, at least to a large extent; though
curiously enough the religion does not seem to have the same effect upon
the French when once they have learned to speak English. When the Catho-
lic Germans learn to speak English as their home tongue, they intermarry
more or less with the Irish; and they will doubtless intermarry with the
Slavonians and Italians under like conditions, when the latter begin to move
upward in the social scale.
The complete intermixture, in my experience, rarely takes place until
with the second generation born on American soil. It is curious to see how
it has begun to take place in New York, and how much more complete it
is with the Germans than with the Irish, although the latter also are moving
the same way. For example, if you look down the New York Social Regis-
ter you will find name after name of German origin, the prominent bearers
of these names being for the most part the grandsons of immigrants. They
are now indistinguishable from their fellows, and neither think of them-
selves, nor are thought of, in any different light. Socially, I regret to say,
they are quite as apt to be Anglomaniacs as are the native Americans of
the same type! I could name you scores of instances in point among my
own acquaintances.
Excuse me for having inflicted this long letter upon you. It is a penalty
for having written such an interesting pamphet. Sincerely yours
941 -TO DOUGLAS ROBINSON Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, March 3, 1898
Dear Douglas: Edith certainly seems a little stronger during the last two
days; but her fever continues, and puzzles us greatly. The Baltimore expert
did no good. Ted is very decidedly better.
I don't know what to do about my taxes. You see, last August I got
off from my personal taxes in Oyster Bay on the ground that I was not a
resident of Oyster Bay, and had not yet given up my residence in New
York. Of course, as a matter of fact, on November ist my last interest in
787
689 lapsed. I did not vote in New York, and could not have voted, and
abandoned my residence there, and had no intention whatever of resum-
ing it. Could I not make an affidavit that on November ist my interest in
New York ceased; that I did not vote there and have no residence there;
and that I then intended, and now 'intend, to (keep) make my residence at
Oyster Bay, where I shall vote and pay all my taxes this year? I don't want
to bother you, but it would be a great favor if you would have someone
look it up for me, and find out if this can be done; and would you also look
up and find out whether I have under you the $50,000 worth of taxable prop-
erty? I wish you would consult Uncle Jim. Faithfully yours
P.S. Rather than have the least suspicion attach to me, I would of course
pay the taxes, and I don't think it makes much difference this year anyhow,
for everything seems to be going with a jump, and I might as well be re-
signed to it.
By the way, will you please find out from the Life Insurance Company
if my policy would be vitiated if I should go to Cuba in the event of war?
942 • TO WILLIAM LAIRD CLOWES RoOSCVelt
Washington, March 4, 1898
Dear Mr. Clowes: You are very kind to write me, and I know that you
feel real sympathy for us. It was a terrible calamity. Captain Sigsbee and
Lieutenant Commander Wainwright are two of the best men in our service,
and I am confident that the Court will hold them blameless. Of course I
cannot pass any judgment in the matter until we hear from the Court. The
opinion of the other officers at Havana is nearly unanimous to the effect
that there was no accident, but that the ship was destroyed by a floating
mine from without. Our "yellow" newspapers have been shrieking forth
the same view, but in their case wholly without any facts to back it. I
sometimes feel a good deal disappointed over our people. They have behaved
very well about this calamity so far, and if they find themselves plunged
in war they will fight well, so far as their lack of preparation will permit;
but there are plenty of people so shortsighted that they want to abandon
building battleships because, forsooth, one has been blown up, and \ve shall
have to meet a great revival of the cry for coast defense monitors, cruisers
and torpedo boats — all of them very good in their way, but none of them
substitutes for battleships.
I doubt if there is any chance to pass the personnel bill here. I doubt if
we annex Hawaii. Captain Mahan is a prophet more honored in your coun-
try than in his own.
However, though I feel a little blue at the outlook, it won't make the
slightest difference in the way I shall work. I shall do my best to get the
Navy up into proper shape, and while I won't accomplish nearly as much
as I would like, still I will accomplish something.
788
I never see Cowles or my sister that we do not talk of you, and I do
hope that in Switzerland you are now «comfortable».
I am looking forward to the receipt of the second volume, and shall be
very glad to get my proofs. You spoke of my chapters not appearing until
the fifth volume. If Captain Mahan were not writing a work on the same
subject, I should not mind this in the least; but as he is writing one which
will be out I suppose in about eighteen months, I think it would be a very
good thing if my chapters could appear at as early a date as possible.
With great regard, Very sincerely yours
943 • TO DOUGLAS ROBINSON Robinson Mss?
Washington, March 6, 1898
Dear Douglas, Neither I nor any one else, not even the President, can do
more than guess. We are certainly drifting towards, and not away from,
war; but the President will not make war, and will keep out of it if he
possibly can. Nevertheless, with so much loose powder round, a coal may
hop into it at any moment. In a week or so I believe we shall get that re-
port; if it says the explosion was due to outside work, it will be very hard
to hold the country; but the President will undoubtedly try peaceful means
even then, at least at first. If I were in Astor's place I should cruise north-
ward so as to be near Key West in a forthnight; but in such a case I can
not give advice; for it is a matter of chance, and the odds are against war
— but there is a fair chance of its occurring.
Tell Corinne that Edith has improved so very slowly — if at all — that
yesterday I had in a gynecologist. He thinks there must be an operation,
but that it will not be critical, as the abscess, or whatever it is, is seemingly
in the muscle, and out-side the pelvic cavity. Edith is not strong enough
even for me to read to her much. Yours always
944 • TO BRADLEY TYLER JOHNSON JofalSOn MSS.
Washington, March 7, 1898
My dear General: x I have just seen your piece in the Baltimore American.
I thank you for what you say about me, and I can assure you that so far
as a subordinate has any influence I shall act on precisely your ideas. Of
course I am personally what is called a Jingo, so there are only a few gen-
erous souls like yourself who take kindly to my views. I wish we had one
or two men like you in Congress. Within 24 hours we should be given
means to purchase every good battleship, cruiser and torpedo boat that there
is for sale in any part of the world. If as a nation we act with sufficient
energy and determination, there will probably be no war, and if there is, it
1 Bradley Tyler Johnson, brigadier general in the Confederate Army, lawyer, active
in the Democratic party in Maryland and Virginia.
789
will be short. But if we hesitate, or merely bark instead of biting, and flinch
under punishment, diverting our Navy to protect our own ports, instead of
remembering that it is better to hit than to parry — why, then we shall
have a hard time.
Of course, treat this letter as strictly private! Very sincerely yows
945 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES CowleS MSS.°
Washington, March 7, 1898
Darling Bye, Yesterday, after writing you, the doctors came and found a
condition of things which demanded immediate action. Accordingly they
operated on her; it was a large abscess, in the psoas muscle, reaching down
to the pelvis. Everything went well; but of course it was a severe operation;
and her convalescence may be a matter of months. She is now well over
the effects of the ether and the shock; but of course exceedingly weak. She
behaved heroically; quiet, and even laughing, while I held her hand until
the ghastly preparations had been made. Kermit has gone to the Tucker-
mans.
In haste. Always yours
946-TO JOHN ELLIS ROOSEVELT Roosevelt
Washington, March 9, 1898
Dear Jack: On April 19* last I was appointed Assistant Secretary of the
Navy. I came on to Washington and took up my residence here. On May
ist I moved out of the house I was occupying in New York, and my sister
moved in. I had rented it from her, my understanding being that the fam-
ily should move out on May ist, but that I could stay there until October
ist myself if I wished. (As a matter of fact I never did stay there, and on
October ist all my interest in the house ceased.) I (have) had no residence
in New York City, and did not vote, and could not vote there at the last
election & do not have any residence or domicil there now. I am now a
resident of Washington, and (have) had been since <last spring) Oct ist.
(In May I (shall) (may) expect to go to my home on Long Island, where my
intention is to take up my residence, and vote next year.) The house in
which I am now residing with my family is at 1810 N Street, Washington.
(I rented it last June, and have lived in it ever since.) Faithfully yours1
947 • TO HENRY WHITE Henry White Mss.
Washington, March 9, 1898
My dear White: I was very glad to hear from you. Our feeling of grief
at the loss of the Maine in this Department has been sunk in a very eager
1 The changes in the text of this letter were made in the hand of someone other
than Roosevelt.
79°
desire to find out the cause of the disaster, and to avenge it if it is due to
outside work. What the cause was no one can yet say; but in confidence I
may mention that the officers on the spot outside of the Board, and the chief
of our representatives of the State Department there, are confident that it is
due to an outside explosion. Of course I have nothing to say as to the policy
of the Government, but I earnestly hope this incident will not be treated
by itself, but as part of the whole Cuban business. There is absolutely but
one possible solution of a permanent nature to that affair, and that is Cuban
independence. The sooner we make up our minds to this the better. If we
can attain our object peacefully, of course we should try to do so; but we
should attain it one way or the other anyhow.
Yes, I knew about those Brazilian cruisers. I suppose we shall purchase
them. I am not myself very much in favor of purchasing anything but ist-
class armored cruisers or battleships, and large seagoing torpedo craft of the
"destroyer" type. It would be a mistake to lumber our navy up with value-
less craft. A year ago we could have ended a war with Spain with very
little difficulty. The delay has steadily been to our disadvantage, but we
can still end it without much difficulty if we act with promptness «and»
decision. Of course the real time to strike was a year and a half ago, when
we had most excuse and could have struck to most advantage.
I am sure that the English have genuinely sympathized with us. I am
glad there seems to be so friendly a feeling between the two countries,
though I don't believe that we ought to have an alliance.
Remember me most warmly to Mrs. White and Miss Muriel. Mrs. Roo-
sevelt has been very far from well. Faithfully yours
948 • TO CHARLES HENRY DAVIS RoOSCVelt
Washington, March 9, 1898
My dear Davis: You are more than kind, and I think you know that I would
call upon you without the sligthest hesitation if there was anything you
could do; but just at present there is nothing.
If there is a war I want to get away from here and get to the front if
I possibly can. I inflict so much advice on the Secretary that I fear I be-
came persona non grata; but yesterday I went to him again, and urged that
in commissioning these new ships he should pay no heed to the routine of
appointments, but should give them to men like Evans, Rodgers, Folger,
yourself, Brownson and Goodrich, staring, if he chose, that the details were
purely for two or three months, or during his pleasure and as an emer-
gency; and that as soon as the emergency was over he would send the
captains back to their regular work. I urged that if there was a real chance
of trouble it was a great mistake to leave our best men ashore, and merely
put average men in command of the boats; and that we should prepare in
advance in this way, exactly as in any other.
I had O'Neil down and went over the matter of the guns of the Terror
and Miantonomoh. He insists that they have other locks besides the electric
ones for the big turret guns. I got him to write to Ludlow and get a full
statement, and also to write to whoever is put in command of the Alianto-
nomob. He evidently fears that the gear of the latter is too complicated.
In great haste, Faithfully yours
949 • TO C. WHITNEY TILLINGHAST, SECOND RoOSCVClt
Washington, March 9, 1898
My dear General Tillinghast: I have been in a great quandary quite what
to do as to my own affairs. Of course I can't leave this position until it is
perfectly certain we are going to have a war, and that I can get down to
it. I don't want to be in an office during war, I want to be at the front;
but I should rather be in this office than guarding a fort and no enemy
within a thousand miles of it. Of course being here hampers me. If I were
in New York City I think I could raise a regiment of volunteers in short
order when the President told us to go ahead, but it is going to be difficult
from here. I have a man who rendered most gallant service with the regu-
lar Army against the Apaches, whom I should very much like to bring in
with me if I could raise a regiment. I wish very much you would give me
a little advice if you can. Do you think the Governor would give me a
chance to start in and raise that regiment in New York were war declared?
If so, what aid could I get from the State? Have you any idea how quickly
I could get uniforms, arms, etc.?
Pray pardon my troubling you. Faithfully yours
950 • TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN Roosevelt
Washington, March 10, 1898
My dear Captain Mahan: Your statement about the Hawaiians is literally
correct. The statistics show a curiously steady diminution year by year.
The original Hawaiian blood will remain only in the halfbreeds between
them and the intrusive white and yellow races.
Mrs. Roosevelt has been very sick. I think she is now a little better.
I earnestly wish that my chief would get you on here to consult in the
present crisis. Faithfully yours
951 -TO JOHN DAVIS LONG National Archives
Washington, March 12, 1898
My dear Mr. Secretary: Mr. Dingley has just been in and asked me to fur-
nish him from month to month with the sum total of our expenditures
which are due to the preparation for war, including not only those under the
$50,000,000, but also those under the ordinary appropriations which would
792
not have been entered into had we not been preparing for war. This would
include the way we have pushed work on the Puritan for example, the
commissioning of the Terror, Amphitrite, Minneapolis and Columbia, the
enlistment of the men, the purchase of extra powder, etc., etc., etc. With
your permission I shall send around to the different Bureaus and have them
give me the sum total of expenditures of this nature for the month of March,
and then for the subsequent months. Very respectfully
952 • TO BRADLEY TYLER JOHNSON RoOSCVelt MsS.
Washington, March 14, 1898
My dear General: I swelled with pride at being addressed as "Colonel." If
we don't have trouble, and I can get down for a hunt, most certainly I will.
I think it will be next fall, however. When do you hunt your foxes? Nothing
should I like so much as a deer and fox hunt, and indeed a turkey hunt,
varied at night by a coon hunt. How long will it take me to get from here
to your home? You see I mean business, and you have been very unwary
in asking me if you don't want me.
Whatever his faults may be, Lodge is a straight-out American. It was he
who showed me what you had said about me. He is all right in every
way. Faithfully yours
953 -TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN RoOSCVelt
Washington, March 14, 1898
My dear Captain Mohan: I entirely agree with you. A year ago, when we
had seven armored ships against the Spanish fleet, I thought a flying squad-
ron might be of use; at present we have six against eight, and I don't think
so. We are taking the Oregon around, and I hope that she will be at Cuba
by the time the Pelayo may be gotten out of Toulon and sent across. You
know my opinion pretty well. We should have struck a year and a half ago,
when our superiority of forces was great, and when we could have saved
Cuba before it was ruined. Every month since the situation has changed
slightly to our disadvantage, and it will continue so to change. It is the case
of the sibylline books again. We should fight this minute in my opinion,
before the torpedo boats get over here. But we won't. We'll let them get
over here and run the risk of serious damage from them, and very possibly
we won't fight until the beginning of the rainy season, when to send an
expeditionary force to Cuba means to see the men die like sheep.
I send you a copy of a letter I submitted to the Secretary two months
ago. Will you please send it back to me? I agree with you that we should
not try to do anything much with Porto Rico at present.
I think much better of the Brooklyn than you do, but quite as badly of
the Minneapolis and Columbia. I further agree with you with all my heart
793
about local coast defense. I shall urge, and have urged, the President and
the Secretary to pay absolutely no heed to the outcries for protection from
Spanish raids. Take the worst — a bombardment of New York. It would
amount to absolutely nothing, as affecting the course of a war, or damaging
permanently the prosperity of the country. I should not myself divert a
ship from the Cuban waters for any threat against our coast, bar always that
I should protect the battleships building at Newport News. However, I am
afraid we shall have to make up our minds that a monitor will be sent to
Boston, another to New York, and another to Newport News — of which
last I should entirely approve.
I am going to show your letter to Captain Goodrich and also to the
Secretary. I have Captain Goodrich at work on a plan of attack for we
haven't a plan of any kind excepting that prepared last June. Faithfully
yowrs
954 • TO ALLEN GRANT WALLIHAN Roosevelt M$S.
Washington, March 14, 1898
Dear Mr. Wallihan: 1 1 am much obliged for your letter, especially because
it clears up something which I have always minded very much. I supposed
you were responsible for allowing those fake pictures to get in, and I am
delighted to know that you are not. I had felt very much put out by hav-
ing written an introduction, and then finding that these fake pictures were
put in. It caused me a great deal of annoyance. I should like to make pub-
lic some little card from you stating the facts, and should then add some
statement of my own. Mr. Thayer had no business to go into such a thing,
for it compromised you primarily, and secondarily myself, making it look
as if I had been taken in by a clumsy fraud. I am delighted to find that
you were not responsible for it, but I think you ought to in some way
publicly repudiate Thayer for what he did, as it makes it look now as if
you were responsible. I am not surprised at what you tell me about Ira
Dodge.
I do wish I could meet Mrs, Wallihan and yourself and Mr. Wells; but
I suppose there is no chance of my making die hunt for a long time to
come. Very sincerely yours
955 • TO FRANCIS VINTON GREENE Roosevelt
Washington, March 15, 1898
My dear Greene: All right. I didn't have much expectation that you could
succeed, and I thank you very much for what you have done. I don't agree
1 Allen Grant Wallihan, naturalist, photographer, author of Hoofs, Claws and
Antlers of the Rocky Mountains, by the Camera; Photographic Reproductions of
Wild Game from Life (Denver, 1894), for which Roosevelt wrote an introduction.
794
with you as to my post of duty. I don't want to be in an office instead of
at the front; but I daresay I shall have to be, and I shall try to do good
work wherever I am put. I have long been accustomed, not to taking the
position I should like, but to doing the best I was able to in a position I
did not altogether like, and under conditions which I didn't like at all. But
I shall hope still that in the event of serious war I may have the chance
to serve under you.
I am delighted to say that Mrs. Roosevelt does really seem to be getting
better. It was a very real pleasure to see you here the other day. Faithfully
yours
956 • TO WILLIAM ASTOR CHANLER RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, March 15, 1898
Dear Willie: This is the first letter of yours I have ever hated to receive, for
I have been on the point of writing to you to know if you were going to
raise a regiment, and to know if I could not go along. I shall chafe my
heart out if I am kept here instead of being at the front, and I don't know
how to get to the front. I thought I might go under Frank Greene in the
7ist, but all of his officers have volunteered, and anyhow nobody knows
how the National Guard will be used. If nothing else happens I hope I can
get with you in any capacity, in any regiment that goes to the front. I have
a man here, Leonard Wood, who is also very anxious to go. He is an Army
surgeon, but he wants to go in the fighting line. He is a tremendous athlete.
Can't you come on here? I will take you to Alger, and I will get Wood,
and you and I and he will go over the matter together. At present I am
utterly in the air as to how to advise you, because I haven't the slightest
idea what I could do myself. Faithfully yours
957 • TO ROBLEY DUNGLISON EVANS RoOSCVelt MSS.
Washington, March 16, 1898
My dear Captain Evans: No one shall see your letter, which I have this
minute received; but I shall go in and speak to the Secretary as strongly as
I know how. I have for some days been advising exactly as you advise in
your letter, not only as to the Admiral but as to the Spanish torpedo
catchers, and as to the need of picket boats for our fleet. I told the Presi-
dent yesterday that we ought to treat the sailing of those Spanish torpedo
catchers exactly as a European power would the mobilizing of a hostile
army on its frontiers.
As to yourself, I have spoken to the Secretary again and again about
you, and I can't help believing that you will be given the command not
only of a ship, but of a squadron, as soon as hostilities arise. Faithfully yours
795
TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN Roosevelt MSS.
Washington, March 16, 1898
My dear Captain Mahan: I send you a plan of campaign which we have
developed. It is of course purely tentative until we know what we are to
fight, and when. Will you send it back to me with any comments you see
fit to make. Faithfully yomrs
959 • TO ANNA ROOSEVELT COWLES C&wleS MSS.°
Washington, March 16, 1898
Darling Bye, I am so sorry about the grippe; I am glad Cabot has gone on
— he may console you, and he'll talk to you about Will, and everything.
I am glad Will keeps going between Havanna and Key West; it is better
than too long a stay in port.
What the Administration will ultimately do I do'n't know; McKinley
is bent on peace, I fear.
Edith is undoubtedly gaining, although slowly, and although she had a
little setback today. Poor Ted's headaches have come back. It has been a
hard winter.
I am working very hard at the Department, as everyone is; and as the
strain tells more or less on the Secretary, there is very little chance of a let
up on me.
The enclosed shows that poor Mrs. Browns letter was not treated as an
"application for pension." Let her send one on, and I'll file it and try to
hurry it on as much as possible.
Tell Alice that both Edith and I thoroughly enjoyed her letter, and that
I'll answer it at once. Yours always
960 -TO WALTER WELLMAN RoOSCVelt
Washington, March 17, 1898
My dear Mr. Wellman: * I have been wanting to see you for some time to
speak on exactly the subject which you wrote me about. After our last inter-
view I wrote to the three or four men in New York whom I thought would
be interested in arctic exploration. Without exception they are already
interested in Mr. Peary. Mr. Peary is in the Navy, and of course I cannot
do anything that will interfere with him, and even if I could, these men
have told me that they are already committed to him, and do not care to
go into anything new. I wish I could see you in person and talk over the
matter. I know Mr. Morgan too slightly to write him. One of the men you
mention, Mr. Morris K. Jesup,2 was one of the men whom I wrote to, and
who told me he was interested in Peary. Faithfully yours
1 Walter Wellman, journalist, Arctic explorer.
* Morris Ketchum Jesup, banker, president of the Museum of Natural History, New
York.
796
p6l • TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN Mohan
Washington, March 21, 1898
My dear Captain Mohan: There is no question that you stand head and
shoulders above the rest of us! You have given us just the suggestions we
want. I am going to show your letter to the Secretary first, and then get
some members of the board to go over it.
Personally, I can hardly see how we can avoid intervening in Cuba if
we are to retain our self-respect as a nation.
You probably don't know how much your letter has really helped me
clearly to formulate certain things which I had only vaguely in mind. I
think I have studied your books to pretty good purpose. If I can get the
Secretary to enunciate just the policy about promotions which you advo-
cate, I am sure it will help us more than anything else.
I enclose the letter from the Italian Embassy.
Pray give my warm regards to Mrs. Mahan. Faithfully yours
P.S. There are mines off Fort Monroe, and in the fort three modern 10-
inch rifles, and a number of good mortars. These, with a couple of small
harbor torpedo boats, would I think be enough to prevent a raid on Hamp-
ton Roads by a hostile fleet.
962 • TO BROOKS ADAMS Roosevelt Mss.
Washington, March 21, 1898
My dear Adams: Your letters pleased me deeply; and they touched both
Mrs. Roosevelt and myself still more deeply. I showed them to Lodge, and
he told me that what you said of me should be ample reward for any work
and worry I have had in this office; and I told him that I quite agreed with
him, and so I do.
Like you, I breathed more freely and held my head higher when the
President and Congress rose to the level of the emergency. I don't understand
how John Hay was willing to be away from Engknd at this time. Harry
White has done excellently there. I entirely agree with you that England's
attitude was very important to us; and I also entirely agree with you that
having taken the position we did it will indeed be ill for us if we fail to
carry out the responsibilities we have assumed. Personally, I feel that it is
not too late to intervene in Cuba. What the administration will do I know
not. In some points it has followed too closely in Cleveland's footsteps to
please me, excellently though it has done on the whole. In the name of
humanity and of national self-interest alike, we should have interfered in
Cuba two years ago, a year and a half ago, last April, and again last Decem-
ber. The defective imaginations of many good people here, the limited
797
mental horizon of others, and the craven fear and brutal selfishness of the
mere money-getters, have combined to prevent us from doing our duty. It has
been a case of the offer of the sibylline books over again. Month by month
has gone by, each leaving less for us to interfere on behalf of, and increasing
the danger that would result from our interference; and yet interfere we
must sooner or later. The blood of the Cubans, the blood of women and
children who have perished by the hundred thousand in hideous misery,
lies at our door; and the blood of the murdered men of the Maine calls not
for indemnity but for the full measure of atonement which can only come
by driving the Spaniard from the New World. I have said this to the Presi-
dent before his Cabinet; I have said it to Judge Day, the real head of the
State Department; and to my own chief. I cannot say it publicly, for I am
of course merely a minor official in the administration. At least, however,
I have borne testimony where I thought it would do good.
Incidentally, our Navy is in much better shape than it was a year ago.
We are lamentably weak in certain particulars, thanks to the unwisdom of
Congress; and the Spanish torpedo-boat destroyers may cause us serious
trouble; but our men have in them the stuff of those who fought in 1812,
and in 1861, and they handle their ships and their guns as American seamen
should.
Remember me most warmly to Mrs. Adams. Faithfully yours
[Handwritten] P. S. Mrs. Roosevelt has been very, very sick all winter;
for weeks we could not tell whether she would live or die. At last she was
put under the knife; and now, very slowly, she is crawling back to life.
I hope never to see another such winter. We have had to send all the chil-
dren away from the house. Nannie has been more than kind, and Cabot;
and indeed all our friends. You can hardly know how often Mrs. Roosevelt
and I think and talk of you both.
963 -TO ALFRED THAYER MAHAN Roosevelt MsS.
Washington, March 24, 1898
My dear Captain Mohan: Again I thank you for suggestions that are very
valuable. I need not tell you however — what I learned from your books
long before I had any practical experience — that it is out of the question
at the last moment to improvise efficient war vessels, small or great. All we
can do is to get makeshifts capable of approximately decent service. Rev-
enue cutters, lighthouse tenders, yachts and tugboats we are now getting.
We are putting on them what guns we can scrape together and they will
carry, and we will supply them with a few regular officers and a few man-
of-warsmen from the fleet, with a big lot of raw recruits, because we can-
not denude the battleships of officers and men. These craft will be from
one-half to two-thirds as fast as the torpedo boats against which they will
be pitted. They will not be as noiseless or as invisible, and they will have
fewer guns, and only here and there a torpedo tube. It is not necessary to
798
say that they will constitute far from an ideal flotilla, but it will be the best
we can improvise.
We have at least got the right man as commander and second in com-
mand of the Key West fleet. I shall give Captain Evans all your letters to
me to take down and show to Captain Sampson, and afterwards to return
them to me.
I think I told you that I advised the President and the Secretary to treat
the sailing of the torpedo flotilla from the Canaries for Porto Rico as an act
of hostility. I have repeated the advice today. I do not think it will be
regarded.
Your address will be kept, and I can assure you we will communicate
with you at once in the event of need. Faithfully yours
[Handwritten] P.S. I quite agree with what you say as to administering
this office. I have been under a great strain this winter owing to the long
and critical sickness of both my wife and my eldest son.
964 • TO JOHN DAVIS LONG R.M.A. MSS.
Washington, March 25, 1898
Sir: Mr. Walcott, Director of the Geological Survey, has just been in to
see me, having seen the President. He has shown me some interesting photo-
graphs of Professor Langley's flying machine. The machine has worked. It
seems to me worth while for this government to try whether it will not
work on a large enough scale to be of use in the event of war. For this
purpose I recommend that you appoint two officers of scientific attain-
ments and practical ability, who in conjunction with two officers appointed
by the Secretary of War, shall meet and examine into the flying machine,
to inform us whether or not they think it could be duplicated on a large
scale, to make recommendation as to its practicability and prepare estimates
as to the cost.
I think this is well worth doing.
This board should have the power to call in outside experts like R. H.
Thurston, President Sibley College, Cornell University and Octave Chanute,
President of American Society of Civil Engineers, at Chicago. Very respect-
fully
965 • TO JOHN ELLIS ROOSEVELT RoOSCVelt
Washington, March 25, 1898
Dear Jack: I don't want to lose my vote this fall, and therefore I will just
pay the penalty and pay those taxes in New York. «Isn't it» practicable to
alter matters so as to have me taxed at Oyster Bay? Would this be practical
or not? If not, then I will pay in New York anyway. I don't want to seem
to sneak out of anything, nor do I wish to lose my vote two years in suc-
cession. Won't you then ask Douglas to go over my taxable property and
799
see if I can't get off for less than $50,000. This is an outrageous and absurd
price to pay. I am very much obliged to you for what you have done.
We are all on edge about the report here. Faithfully yours
966 • TO WILLIAM ASTOR CHANLER RoOSCVelt
Immediate Washington, March 26, 1898
Dear Willie: Things look as if they were coming to a head. Now, can you
start getting up that regiment when the time comes? Do you want me as lieu-
tenant colonel? Also, remember that to try to put toughs in it — still worse
to try to put political heelers in — will result in an utterly unmanageable
regiment, formidable to its own officers, and impotent to do mischief to
the foe. Faithfully yours
967 • TO C. WHITNEY TILLINGHAST, SECOND RoOSCVelt M.SS.
Washington, March 26, 1898
My dear General Tillinghast: It looks to me as though matters were coming
to a climax, and we should soon see actual trouble with Spain. Of course
this is private, for yourself and the Governor.
I wish the Governor could say whether or not be believes that the State
militia would be sent out of the State, that is, down to Cuba as part of an
expeditionary force, or whether we shall raise volunteers. If the latter, will
you present my regards to him and ask if I may not be allowed to raise a
regiment? I think I can certainly do it, although I shall have to get you to
exercise a little patience with me, as I must of course provide a substitute
for myself here; but I could leave the raising of the regiment in the hands
of my subordinates for the first three or four days. Faithfully yours
968 - TO JOHN DAVIS LONG RoOSCVelt
Washington, March 26, 1898
My dear Mr. Secretary: I am informed by the Bureau of Navigation that
the Spanish torpedo-gunboat Temerario, which has been for two years at
Montevideo left there yesterday, destination unknown. I suggest that orders
be sent to the Commanding Officers of both the Marietta and Oregon, to
reach them at their next port, to be on the lookout for this vessel. By keep-
ing clear of places where there are United States consuls or ministers she
might work her way into the Straits of Magellan and make a fatal attack
on the Oregon or Marietta in the comparatively narrow channel of the
Straits of Magellan. It might be well to consider sending the Oregon round
the Horn if there is danger of her being waylaid in the Straits. Very Re-
spectfully
800
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